EIn spontaneous, big applause reflected the soul of the people during the general meeting of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB). People don’t like anonymous letters. Because as a rule – the biggest scoundrel in the whole country is and remains the informer – they are regarded as insidious attacks by contemporaries who seem too cowardly for an open game.
The reaction of the plenary session on Saturday in Baden-Baden must be understood as a massively affirmative answer to the criticism of DOSB President Thomas Weikert and the chairman of the Ethics Committee in the DOSB, Thomas de Maizière. Both are annoyed. The former Minister of the Interior because of the abundance of anonymous mail to his body, Weikert because he is concerned. In his case, two anonymous letters are available to this editorial team, the motivation of the sender is clear: Weikert should be harmed, his suitability as the integrity leader of the DOSB questioned. After researching and examining a case that was about ten years old, de Maizière’s commission had no “concerns” about his candidacy. Weikert himself considers the content a private matter.
An offensive approach on Saturday in Baden-Baden would probably have completely removed the poisonous effect of the anonymous letter and at the same time caught an echo. Because while both Weikert and de Maizière, despite their reservations, promised to deal “seriously” with unsigned mail, the anger grew among the delegates: athletes fight with open visors! Unfortunately, this is not always reasonable. Fear of reprisals often stood in the way of dealing with misconduct in sport.
Therefore, exactly two years ago, the general meeting of the DOSB decided to include the “possibility of an anonymous report” in the regulations to protect “whistleblowers”. This is what the preamble to the “Protection of whistleblowers in the DOSB” says: “So that people can point out grievances without fear and concern about personal disadvantages.”
The development from a “culture of fear” in the DOSB to a transparent, open, constructive culture of criticism under Weikert takes time. It didn’t just start with the urgently needed change in management a year ago, but in May 2021. When, after the first sent, a second email from whistleblowers, published in parallel, reached the DOSB – an anonymous one.
