The federal government’s exercise summit, held for the first time at the end of 2022, was intended to send a signal: the federal government, states, municipalities, sports associations and science are coming together behind the goal of improving the framework conditions for exercise and sport in Germany. But by the second edition on Tuesday (March 12, 2024) the unity was gone: all 16 state sports associations were staying away from the movement summit in protest against the draft sports development plan presented by politicians.
“We won’t go there,” said Jörg Ammon, spokesman for the regional associations and president of the Bavarian State Sports Association, to the Sportschau. The decision was made unanimously at a conference, “it’s not that easy with 16 state sports associations. But we have come to the conclusion that there is no point at all in holding a movement summit with nothing in hand.”
BMI draft development plan rejected
What should actually be in hand is the sports development plan, a joint strategy paper, the result of the exchange of experts in several working groups. The plan was for everyone involved to approve the development plan at the movement summit. But the draft bill presented by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community (BMI) in February met with strong rejection. Criticism came from, among others, the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), the state sports associations and the German Association of Cities.
A point that is often criticized: The draft is a list of ideas without specifying how and by whom they should be implemented – and without financial commitments from the federal government. Ammon puts it this way: “If we start with so many people, so much idealism and so much knowledge, work for a good year to move the sport forward, and then afterwards have no commitment, no funding for the year In 2024, it will be like driving an ICE train at full speed into a brake block. This has led to great disillusionment for those involved.”
Faeser, Lauterbach and Özdemir at the movement summit
Although a central reason is now missing without a development plan and despite the absence of the state sports associations, the federal government is sticking to the movement summit. When asked about the sports show, the BMI wrote that it had not received any cancellations. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD), Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) and Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (The Greens) will speak publicly in the Berlin Olympic Park about how important sport is for society and health – in Lauterbach’s case perhaps again in a training jacket like in the case First edition.
DOSB President Thomas Weikert will also be present – and that is remarkable. The DOSB not only rejected the development plan, but also another draft from the BMI: the one for the Sports Funding Act, which is intended to re-regulate financial support in top-class sports. In a DOSB communication, Weikert described the draft as “a bitter disappointment” and “unacceptable”.
The reason behind this is that the DOSB fears for its influence in the distribution of top-level sports funding – while the BMI, as requested by the Federal Audit Office, is demanding more control over the use of tax money.
DOSB board member Röhrbein calls for dialogue
Looking at the peak of the movement, the sounds from the DOSB sound more conciliatory. The first edition in 2022 “really painted a big picture of a paradigm shift, of the fact that we are anchoring sport and exercise as a cross-section at the federal department level and across all levels: federal, state, local authorities,” said Michaela Röhrbein, Director of Sports Development at the DOSB, the sports show. “We still have to stand up for that. We can’t let the dialogue break down.”
At the same time, she “greatly understands that many who accompanied the process are very disappointed” and did not go to the movement summit.
Thieme understands criticism
Lutz Thieme, sports scientist at Koblenz University, can also understand the criticism of the development plan. In the Sportschau interview he refers to the responsibilities: The federal government supports top-class sport financially, but not the work at the grassroots level. The municipalities and the states are responsible there.
“So that means: A sports development plan that goes in the direction of us becoming a more exercise-friendly society would contain a lot of building blocks for which the municipalities, the federal government and the states would then have to work in different ways,” says Thieme. “Then it’s a question of philosophy as to why the federal government doesn’t open up its own financing perspectives, but writes things into the books of the states and municipalities and also organized sport.”
BMI wants to further advance the sports development plan
What unites everyone involved is the unwavering desire to develop a common system in which the various responsible parties communicate with each other and, ideally, work in a coordinated manner.
Federal politicians have withdrawn the sports development plan, but have not yet buried it. “We want nothing less than a comprehensive understanding on the feasibility, implementability and financing of the measures and ultimately a political consensus across all levels and sectors,” writes the BMI in response to Sportschau’s request.
But first the discussion continues in a smaller circle. The BMI “aims to first seek coordination with those involved in the federal government before we then approach our partners in the states, at the local level and in organized sport.” However, a big hit with clear financial commitments seems unlikely given the austerity measures in the federal government and the many other major political construction projects beyond sport.