DOSB wants more money for sports from special infrastructure pot
President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) Thomas Weikert poses for a picture ahead of a panel discussion during the Sports-business (SPOBIS) industry conference at the Congress Center Hamburg (CCH). Weikert fears that sports will not get an adequate share from a €500 billion ($578 billion) government pot for infrastructure programmes in the country. Christian Charisius/dpa
German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) president Thomas Weikert fears that sports will not get an adequate share from a €500 billion ($578 billion) government pot for infrastructure programmes in the country.
Weikert said in an interview on the DOSB website he feels "a mixture of incomprehension, anger and disappointment" in connection with the funds.
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Weikert warned that many sports clubs have to trim down their programmes if they don't get the necessary funds to modernise their infrastructure.
"I wonder why the importance of sport for society as a whole is apparently still not seen or understood in some places," he said.
The new government led by Chancellor Friedrich Merz is meanwhile making the €500 billion pot available for various infrastructure projects, with €100 million each reserved for climate prtection and infrastructure investments by the federal states.
The full distribution programme is yet to be announced, but Weikert named it "incomprehensible" that sports is so far not included.
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Weikert said that so far only €1 billion has been earmarked for sports from other funds, but that it is not clear yet whether the figure is per year or for the full four-year government term.
He called for a bigger overall share as he named an investment bottleneck of at least €31 billion concerning sports facilities in the country.
Weikert also spoke of general benefits from such an investment, saying: "People who see investments into their club don't only enjoy doing sport, but are also motivated to get involved."
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