German ministers want sports to be included in special fund

Theresa Schopper, Minister of Culture of Baden-Wuerttemberg, is photographed in her ministry during an interview with dpa. The chair of the conference of sports minister, Theresa Schopper, has written to chancellor Friedrich Merz, asking for sports to be included. Bernd Weißbrod/dpa
German state sports ministers have voiced concern that sport is not mentioned in a special €500 billion ($580 billion) fund to improve infrastructure in the country, also in light of a planned Olympic bid.
The chair of the conference of sports minister, Theresa Schopper, has written to chancellor Friedrich Merz, asking for sports to be included.
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'Without a corresponding contribution for sport from the special fund, it will not be possible for the federal states and local authorities to press ahead with the necessary upgrading of our sports facilities, and a noticeable decline in sports facilities in our country has to be feared," Schopper said.
Schopper said that sport reaches many millions of people in Germany and makes an enormous contribution to physical well-being and social cohesion, and added that modernising sports facilities also offers "a great opportunity to significantly advance climate targets."
Looking at the planned Olympic bid by the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) for 2036 or later, Schopper said that an exclusion of sport would also have a significant negative impact on it - mainly in connection with a sustainable investment in grassroots and competitive sports infrastructure associated with the Games.
The €500 billion pot was set up for various infrastructure projects in Germany, with €100 million each reserved for climate protection and infrastructure investments by the federal states.
The DOSB had this week also criticised the absence of sports in the fund, with DOSB president Thomas Weikert speaking of an investment bottleneck of at least €31 billion concerning sports facilities in the country.

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