The German high performance sport is insatiable and has big problems to meet the requirements of a transparent sports promotion. Recently, the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" reported on the difficulties of sports associations to properly retrieve the millions of tax credits that were additionally made available to them in the federal budget adopted for the summer of 2018.
About one third of the 23.3 million Euro increase is still available. Smaller associations under the umbrella of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) are apparently overwhelmed. In the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI), which is responsible for top-level sport, the 40-person sports department is approaching its capacity limits and is set to be increased soon. Some federation had sent only a short letter with an account number and asked for transfer, one sneers in the BMI.
Part of the problem is in the late adopted budget and not a scandal. On the other hand, the question arises: If the sport here is already overwhelmed, if important projects of the so-called competitive sports reform are still not implemented after two years, then how will that be only with that gigantic growth, which calls for the DOSB for the financial year 2019?
114 million euros extra
On Thursday, the Budget Committee of the Bundestag meets for its clean-up session. So far, additional funding from the BMI sports budget of 60 to 80 million euros has been collected. In fact, the DOSB went into the talks with much higher demands. In a statement, which is available to SPIEGEL, the umbrella organization estimated the "additional requirements 2019", as it was called in the most beautiful bureaucratic German, to fabulous 114 million euros. For a year.
This means that top-level sports funding should rise from already significantly increased 188 million euros this year to 302 million in the coming year. In addition, there are the tax funds for the sports soldiers at the Federal Police, Customs and Bundeswehr. From all federal ministries, nearly 400 million will be invested in various sports promotion measures in the coming year.
The BMI sports department expected in internal documents in early October not with the 114 million claims required by the DOSB, but still with a 55-million request, which is now being negotiated in the Budget Committee - another around 38 million were already granted the sport. It is a huge growth, unique and difficult to communicate. It was said at the adoption of the competitive sports reform in December 2016, more tax revenue exists only against clear concepts.
Criticism from the audit office at the DOSB
The Federal Court of Auditors also sharply criticized the existing practice in the spring of 2017 and called for corrections. Thus, the Court of Auditors criticized the consulting monopoly of the DOSB in matters of sports promotion, which leads to non-transparency and the absurd situation that the DOSB itself does the success of his own work. The Federal Court of Auditors demanded that the BMI disassociate itself from the advisory monopoly of the DOSB.
Two years after the General Assembly in Magdeburg, at which DOSB President Alfons Hörmann (CSU) closed the ranks with promising promises, decisive promises of reform are not fulfilled. First example: The number of federal bases (BSP) should be reduced by 204 by about 40. Instead, a year ago, DOSB and the Conference of Ministers of Sport of the Länder presented only a sham package in Saarbrücken, which was easily seen through in BMI.
The list of then 167 bases included only summer sports, it was suggested that it had been cut - in fact, had to be added 35 winter sports bases, so it was 202 BSP. On Thursday and Friday, the sports ministers meet again in Saarbrücken. Nobody really knows how many federal bases there are - because for some to be closed, quite a few were added, which is not only due to the new Olympic sports at the Summer Games in Tokyo.
Scared meeting participants
Second example: The carrier reform of the Olympic bases (OSP), which are reduced from 19 to 13, is far from complete. Many questions remain open. Also, the OSP are not covered by the much-discussed PotAS analysis system, so elude a reasonably objective assessment and comparability. But the DOSB demanded in the federal budget of 2019 a doubling of the budget for "Olympic bases and federal service centers" a doubling of funds: from 33.3 million (2018) to 68.8 million. The government bill on the budget includes an increase of just under 19 million (around 57 percent).
Hörmann always got along well with former Minister of the Interior Thomas de Maizière (CDU) - and this friend of top athletes will be elected as the new head of the DOSB ethics committee on December 1st at the annual DOSB General Assembly. Of course de Maizière has no opponent. Hörmann is confirmed as President in office, after he has obtained more tax funds to the associations, albeit on sometimes intransparent ways.
The new candidacy of Hörmann had announced the DOSB end of September after the conference of the Landessportbünde (LSB) in Oberhaching. Allegedly there was a "unanimous vote" for Hörmann. In fact, however, it was not voted on, as session participants remember, who were shocked when they had to read such phrasing in the minutes.