The Federal Audit Office sharply criticizes the planned structure of the independent agency for the control and promotion of top-class sport, which the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) wants to establish next year. The ministry has expanded the role of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) in an inadmissible way, according to the current report, which is available to the FAZ: “It is no longer just a representative of the interests of the sponsored associations and a sports advisor to the BMI, it now makes decisions together with them BMI, how the associations are promoted.”
As a guarantor of neutral and impartial decision-making, the administration must remain free from undue external influence by interest groups. “The BMI must immediately ensure,” writes the Federal Audit Office, “that it decides on the funding of the associations on its own responsibility and without third-party influence.”
Bill planned for later this year
The Court of Auditors demands that the influence of the federal government should be secured with at least a two-thirds majority in the shareholder meeting. The monitoring body should also be staffed to an appropriate extent with members sent or proposed by the federal government. In its response, the ministry promises to incorporate the recommendation into planning.
The goals of promoting elite sports should be defined clearly, consistently and measurably. The federal government’s important interest in establishing the agency must be proven. “In order to provide an optimal incentive, a noticeable proportion of the remuneration of the sports agency’s management should be made variable and linked to the impact goals,” writes the Court of Auditors. In addition, he calls for the PotAS potential analysis, which seeks to define the prospects of success of individual disciplines and thus determines funding, to be made the basis for the payment of trainers and supervisors. The PotAS analysis should not be diluted by the self-assessments of the grant recipients.
Michael Reinsch, Berlin Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 4 Anno Hecker Published/Updated: 34 minutes ago Recommendations: 1 Michael Reinsch, Herzogenaurach Published/Updated: ,
The demand to limit the influence of the DOSB is a setback for the reform of elite sports funding that began in 2016. The SPD, Greens and FDP have decided to found the agency in the coalition agreement. The Ministry of the Interior wants to present a draft law this year that will enable the company to be founded. A balance of power between the ministry and sport is planned in the board of trustees and the sports advisory board with a total of 36 seats. The involvement of Parliament and the Athletes Germany interest group is not apparent. The sport insists on acting on an equal footing with the ministry.
When asked, the Interior Ministry stated that it could not currently comment because the Federal Audit Office’s report had not yet been published.
