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Federal Councilor Viola Amherd was surprised by the complaints among gymnasts at the Magglingen performance center. He wants to act.
In the past, girls and young women were humiliated and their dignity attacked in the high performance center of the Swiss Gymnastics Association (STV). She was very concerned about these incidents, Federal Councilor Viola Amherd said in an interview published Monday with the Tamedia newspapers., The link opens in a new window.
The focus in sport shouldn’t be solely on medals. Success should not be the main criteria. In the future, more weight will be given to ethical aspects in the promotion of sport, said the magistrate. Ethical guidelines must play a role in the distribution of funds. Otherwise, there is a risk that the culture and bad actions will continue.
There is a culture of fear in certain areas. That is not tolerable.
The Sports Minister shows the dilemma in concrete terms: “The association wants to be successful to get money from politics, the coach wants results to be able to keep his position. But if that goes that far (as it happened – d. Ed.), Then these are the wrong parameters. So that’s a bad system. “
Clear words, clear demands
Federal Councilor Viola Amherd spoke about the complaints for the first time at the Magglingen action center.
Keystone
Looked away too long
I was very amazed that young women only dared to say something when they were no longer active athletes. In the gymnastics association, there is a culture of fear in certain areas. That is not tolerable.
“We have to fundamentally review the books,” Amherd said. It is not acceptable for children and young people during puberty to be subjected to so much pressure that they feel totally insecure and no longer have confidence in themselves.
If an association wants to fundamentally change, it is important that this also has personal consequences.
Those in charge of sports associations and politics had looked the other way for too long. He expressly welcomes the recent resignations in the gymnastics association. You can’t deny a fresh start with the people responsible for the complaints.
In case of repetition, the money will be canceled.
An ethical charter already exists between Swiss Olympic and the various sports associations. But obviously that’s not enough. Politicians must closely monitor sports associations and see if the letter also applies in everyday life.
If this is not the case, the State must intervene and sanction. For the moment, however, the instruments for this were lacking. At the moment, Amherd does not want to withdraw funds from the gymnastics association so as not to punish thousands of young gymnasts.
In the following case, however, the financial consequences are obvious. It seems that money is the only language understood by some leaders, said the sports minister.
