The Presidium of the German Gymnastics Federation (DTB) has asked the Olympic base in Saxony to completely end the employment relationship with the Chemnitz trainer Gabriele Frehse. This emerges from a 13-page statement by the association.
This relates to the final report of a Frankfurt law firm, which, on behalf of the DTB, investigated the serious allegations that the former world champion Pauline Schäfer, 24, first raised against Frehse in SPIEGEL. You and a dozen other athletes had reported that they had been mentally abused by the trainer at the federal base in Chemnitz, some of them for years. In addition, Frehse gave them strong painkillers or drove them into the eating disorder. Everything for maximum success. Frehse vehemently denies the allegations.
In order to clear up these allegations, a five-person team of four lawyers and a psychologist interviewed 32 people, including gymnasts, parents and training staff. Conclusion: In the course of this, a “large number of respondents” outlined a behavior of the trainer that meets the criteria of psychological violence. In addition, in its investigation report, the commission came to the conclusion »that:
in 17 cases there are sufficient actual indications for the use of psychological violence by the trainer;
In addition, in several cases the trainer gave painkillers to gymnasts and in one case the trainer gave the opioid tilidine to a gymnast to take in competitions and the gymnast in question fell under the influence of this drug in an international competition;
Gymnasts had to continue training even with tears and
The pain of the gymnasts that the trainer was told was often not taken seriously by her. “
Among other things, because of these allegations, a criminal complaint was brought against Frehse and a Chemnitz doctor at the end of December on suspicion of mistreatment of wards and physical harm.
From the point of view of the Frankfurt law firm, there is also the suspicion that Frehse had “used an athlete in a Bundesliga competition, although she knew that the gymnast was not medically approved for competition, and the trainer was responsible for presenting the medical certificate from another gymnast Has deceived. ”Frehse denies this.
The investigative commission had also questioned the trainer herself about the suspicions. She had “largely denied the alleged behavior and apologized in the event that a named gymnast felt bad because of her behavior.”
According to the Frankfurt lawyers, there were also people who “mainly reported positively about the trainer concerned.”
In principle, the presumption of innocence continues to apply: neither the filing of a criminal complaint nor the initiation of appropriate proceedings are “connected with reliable conclusions about any existing (criminal) liability”.
The Dutch CO trainer Beltman should also leave
As can be seen from the opinion of the association, the DTB sees no basis for the further care of athletes at the Chemnitz Federal Training Center by Ms. Frehse and therefore demands the complete termination of the employment relationship of Ms. Frehse “.
In addition, the DTB “emphatically” calls for the termination of the employment relationship with the Dutch trainer Gerrit Beltman in Chemnitz. He has been working in Chemnitz since last year – although there are also serious allegations of mistreatment against him.
In both cases, however, the DTB can make recommendations. Frehse’s employer is the Olympic base in Saxony. Beltman is employed by TuS Chemnitz-Altendorf.
“Serious breaches of duty” at the federal base
From the point of view of the DTB, the investigation “confirmed serious breaches of duty at the federal base in Chemnitz”. In the course of this, the association also has to face its own failure: The DTB had already received knowledge in 2018 that there were problems with the Chemnitz trainer. According to the Frankfurt lawyers, the measures taken by the DTB at that time were “insufficient” to “comprehensively clarify and preventively” the facts reported at the time.
As part of its statement, the association apologizes “to all gymnasts concerned for the suffering”. The extent to which this also leads to consequences in the higher floors of the association is not clear from the statement.
Gymnastics all over Germany needs to be questioned
The DTB concludes its statement with a look into the future. There is a “need for structural change”. “More effective structures to protect against violence in competitive sport” are required.
In order to put the well-being of the athletes even more in focus, they want to work to increase the starting age in international competitions from the current 16 to 18 years. In addition, the base concept in the federal and state governments must also be reconsidered: “Current developments in the field of children and young people show that the child’s well-being cannot always be fully guaranteed due to large spatial distances from the parents’ home.” In addition, care must be taken to ensure that athletes and athletes “are given adequate time to recover and for necessary downtime without losing promotion and management status.”
