TIf the budget planned for 2023 came into force, as provided for in a first draft by the Federal Ministry of Finance, the athletes’ representation Athleten Deutschland eV will have to prepare for a significant reduction in funding from the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
It was only in April that the member of the Bundestag and budget politician Martin Gerster (SPD) announced in a press release that the funding for athletes in Germany would be increased by 320,000 to 770,000 euros for 2022 “in view of the increased demands on the work of the club” as “good news for sport”. . The association could “among other things increase in terms of personnel” and expand its activities.
The first draft for the coming year now provides – as before 2022 – 450,000 euros in funding from the Federal Ministry of the Interior. This implicitly calls into question the increase in personnel at Athletes Germany, as well as the activity of the association as a contact point for and advice to athletes, which Gerster had named as the goal of increasing funds for the current year. The planned funds were increased after the first reading of the budget bill in the Bundestag.
The draft for 2023 approved by the Federal Cabinet on July 1 also provides for an increase in funding for the item “Values of Sport”, from 300,000 to 550,000 euros. Should the financing of the planned center for safe sport be pushed, it would be quite explosive if the cabinet at the same time saved funds from Athletes Germany, the organization that had given the decisive impetus for the establishment of such a center.
