The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) and the federal government seem to be serious about realigning their sports policy.

On the day after the Budget Committee (“Restart”) released 25 million euros for the strengthening of club and leisure sports, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser surprised sport on Thursday evening in Berlin with the announcement that the exercise summit requested by the association would take place before the end of the year .

Michael Reinsch

Correspondent for sports in Berlin.

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"The federal government has decided to do this," she said at the DOSB Parliamentary Evening, which took place for the first time in three years after the pandemic-related failures in the Olympic Stadium.

The 25-million-euro aid serves the national structural policy, said Faeser: "An intact sports world at federal and state level is a decisive factor for our social cohesion."

If the wishes of the DOSB are fulfilled, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz will invite to the summit in September or October and thereby connect the DOSB with a number of ministries with the aim of a social policy of sport.

Kerstin Holze, Vice President of the association, repeated the call for a paradigm shift in sports policy.

Numerous future tasks could only be solved if sport and exercise were understood at the political level as a cross-sectional task and supported across departments, she said.

The pediatrician spoke on behalf of the association's president, Thomas Weikert, who is ill.

The federal government and parliament, together with the DOSB, are providing momentum in favor of Germany's largest civil society movement, she said.

“Restart” can only be a first step.

The Ministry of Finance also argued in favor of the federal government's commitment to club and leisure sports, pointing to the national interest in eliminating the structural damage caused by the pandemic in popular sports.

It could also be pointed out in future that the positive effects of sport on health, prevention, integration, education, political education and other areas of society are in the national interest.

A good six months after their election and half a year before their intended re-election, President Weikert and CEO Torsten Burmester can point to remarkable successes.

"Restart" breaks with the principle that the federal government is solely responsible for promoting top-class sport, which it supports with around 300 million euros per year.

The German Armed Forces, Federal Police and Customs have set up sports promotion groups for top athletes, among others.

Nevertheless, the turn of the tide in favor of mass sport, as well as the announcement in the coalition agreement that an independent body should decide on the distribution of funding in the future - keyword top-class sport GmbH - seems to unsettle its representatives.

In any case, DOSB board member Dirk Schimmelpfennig wants to present a “position and key issues paper” at the extraordinary conference of sports ministers, which will take place during the European Championships in Munich in August.

Various working groups are already busy discussing questions such as the social relevance of competitive sport in Germany;

an online survey among the population is also being considered.

Discussing sports without athlete representatives?

Seven years after the start of the elite sport reform, the question of its goals seems to have arisen.

At the time, Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière called for a third more medals.

"Do we want success in the form of podium finishes and medals?" the paper says: "Are our medal goals (top 3 in winter sports and top 5 in summer sports) compatible with promoting the diversity of the sport?" Faeser announced a public Hearing on elite sport promotion.

A concept for the realignment should be available by the end of the year: "We are doing everything we can to focus on the athletes."

This is in striking contrast to the approach of the DOSB.

In the paragraph on the roles and authorities of the partners in elite sport, the body of the main characters is missing: Athletes Germany.

The DOSB apparently plans to discuss the importance, goals and promotion of top-class sport without their independent representation.

That seems like a relapse.

In 2017, President Hörmann and CEO Vesper tried to prevent the founding of Athletes Germany.