The three most prominent sports federations in Germany have called for the appointment of a sports minister in the new government after the elections held next month.
Sports is currently within the ministerial era of the Ministry of the Interior in Germany.
The president of the German Football Association, Bernd Neuendorf, the president of the German Olympic Sports Federation, Thomas Weikert, and the president of the German Paralympic Committee, Friedhelm Bucher, told the weekly newspaper Die Zeit that they want this change.
“We finally need an office where all the threads come together and represents the interests of sports in the federal government,” Neuendorf said.
He added: “As is the case with culture, it should ideally be present in the Chancellery.”
German athletes’ results have declined since reunification in 1990, and the three presidents also want to increase annual government funding for sports by two billion euros ($2.08 billion).
Neuendorf said that sport in Germany should get the place it deserves in society.
He said: “Simply put, I am amazed that so many children in Berlin and other cities are not accepted by football clubs, due to the lack of infrastructure.”
The German Olympic Sports Federation and the Paralympic Committee want to move forward with a bid to host the Olympics and Paralympics in 2036 or 2040.
It is noteworthy that Germany has failed in all its bids to host the Olympics since 1972.
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