Mr. Müller, the incidences have been rising again in Hesse for a few weeks now - how do you see autumn and winter in relation to sport?

Michael Wittershagen

Responsible for sports in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

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My thoughts are divided.

On the one hand, I think with a shudder of the last lockdown, in which something like a total ban on sporting activity was pronounced.

On the other hand, I am of good cheer that something like this will not happen again.

I trust statements from politicians that further lockdowns should be prevented as far as possible.

Could clubs survive another lockdown?

The past few months have proven that organized club life is very robust, adaptable and creative.

The clubs could survive another lockdown, but the situation would open further, major wounds.

Loss of members and dwindling income are one side, but clubs also have a decisive function when it comes to keeping society together.

Sport is not just exercise, for many it also has an important social and educational component.

The coming months will be decisively influenced by the vaccination campaign, which is slowing down, however.

What can clubs do to motivate people to vaccinate?

A few weeks ago we issued a vaccination appeal to our 2.1 million members in Hesse, we asked the clubs to initiate their own vaccination campaigns.

I was positively surprised that there were very few negative reactions from vaccination opponents or corona deniers.

Instead, we have heard extremely positive feedback from the clubs and associations.

I am sure that we can also reach a lot of people through sport when it comes to vaccination.

And we have to, because the coming months will largely depend on it - not just in the club.

Are you worried about those under the age of twelve who cannot yet be vaccinated, who have had to do without a lot in the past few months?

It's a very, very big problem.

There are already clubs that have lost a lot of members and are finding that it is mainly those under 16 who have left.

That hurts us a lot, which is why the clubs now often target their offers specifically to this age group.

Children and adolescents have to keep moving, that is crucial, because the psychological consequences of this pandemic are also not yet foreseeable.

Do you feel well represented by the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) during this pandemic?

No, I have to say that very clearly.

In Hesse we have a very close relationship between the sports department of the Hessian Ministry of the Interior and the State Sports Association, we are included in decisions in good time, as far as possible, our suggestions are taken up.

I can't see that at the federal level.

Especially when it came to the so-called federal emergency brake, the DOSB did not represent the interests of sport very successfully.

The Bundestag Sports Committee has also proven to be a hot air number during this period.

There were many decisions that went far behind what we had worked out together in Hessen.

Do you derive any consequences from your criticism?

Yes.

The consequence is, and this is currently being discussed very intensively in connection with the appointment of new presidents at the DOSB: We need - if possible with our own office in Berlin - a much stronger and more effective representation of the interests of German sport in the federal ministries and in federal politics .

What has happened so far has simply not been enough.

We need to lobby more and not only react when political decisions have already been made.

We need to be included in the discussion and decision-making process.

In Frankfurt there were more than 22,000 fans in the stadium a week ago, in Offenbach, even with an incidence of more than 100, up to 7,000 spectators are allowed to come into the stadium.

How do you like that?

On the one hand, I am of course happy that sport can be offered again in this quality in front of so many spectators.

But it also pains us that there are obviously two standards being measured here: on the one hand the professionals, the commercial sector, on the other hand the amateurs.

We only saw what this could lead to during the European Football Championship, where thousands of corona cases alone are linked to the final.

You shouldn't close your eyes to that.

So professional football is still preferred?

Commercial football is officially preferred, and he probably won't deny that himself. However, if the alternative were to be unable to experience any more games at all because the business could no longer be funded, then that is certainly not the solution either. It is still a mixed up situation. But we must not maintain this two-tier society in sport in the long term.