WHAT GERMANY'S ELECTION MEANS FOR SPORTS AND AN OLYMPIC BID

A German Olympic bid for 2036 or 2040? Sports as a national objective in the constitution? DW takes a look at the sporting side of party manifestos ahead of Germany's 2025 election.

Germany is aiming to host the Olympics again in the futureImage: Frank May/picture alliance

Sports are a focus in the election manifestos of several Germany's political parties despite the other pressing issues facing the country in the lead up to elections on February 23.

While the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU), Greens, the neoliberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) and left-wing Left Party address sports in relative detail, the Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) is largely reticent.

And sports do not even appear in the election manifesto of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Many of the parties' statements on the topic are rather generic, few are specific.

But here is what we know.

Olympic and Paralympic Games

The CDU, SPD, Greens and FDP promise to support a German bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. This would likely be for the 2036 or 2040 event.

Though some parties add provisos. For instance, the FDP will only support bids "provided they meet ecological, economic and humanitarian standards as well as the traditional values of sport."

The Greens, meanwhile, set requirements in terms of sustainability. Existing sports facilities would have to be included in the bid and "new ones to be built would have to be made usable for the public."

"Those who benefit financially from hosting the Olympic Games should pay taxes on the proceeds and pay the usual municipal fees for events," the Greens say.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) normally obtains tax privileges from Olympic bidders.

Nancy Faeser is Germany's Minister of the Interior, which includes governance of sport
Image: Jörg Carstensen/dpa/picture alliance

Sports minister

Only the conservative CDU has taken up the demand frequently voiced by the German sports associations and is calling for a minister responsible solely for sports.

"We are reorganizing the political structures of sports, placing sport policy in the Federal Chancellery and appointing a Minister of State for Sports and Volunteering," the CDU promises.

Sports currently falls under the Interior Ministry.

Sports as a national objective

"We want to enshrine sports as a national objective in the German constitution in order to use the power of sports to strengthen health, social participation, inclusion and integration," writes the SPD in its election manifesto.

In doing so, the Social Democrats are meeting a demand that the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) has been making for two decades. It would need a two-thirds majority in the Bundestag to amend Germany's basic law, but they would have the support of Die Linke, another party that wants sports to be a national objective.

Promotion of sports

The SPD and Greens want to continue with the planned, but not yet adopted, Sports Promotion Act, which would see the establishment of a dedicated funding agency for sports.

The law aims to improve the competitiveness of top athletes by securing reliable funding.

But their former coalition partner, the FDP remains rather vague on the matter. The business-friendly Free Democrats want to promote top-class sports "with clear goals and efficient structures."

The CDU is also rather unclear. "Only with the best training conditions, the best support, also with regard to physical and mental health, can we achieve a change in trend towards more medals at major events," it writes.

In their own words, the CDU wants to expand dual careers — the combination of a more traditional career and one in elite sport in order to prepare athletes for a fulfilling life after sports. "In addition to the military, police and customs as pillars of elite sport, we will also support local authorities and companies in the future."

Gender in sports

The Greens have a different focus.

"We specifically promote the interests of girls and women with our sports policy, and we also have the interests of queer people in mind," its party manifesto says. "Two important means of achieving this are gender budgeting [promoting gender equality through the distribution of funds in public budgets] and equal pay."

The Left also believes that sports programs and sports funding must be "gender-equitable."

The BSW's plans are the polar opposite. The party wants to revoke the new self-determination law that has been in force since November 2024, which makes it easier for transgender, intersex and non-binary people to have their gender registration and first names changed. The BSW also refers to sports in this context: "Allowing biological men who feel like women to compete in the women's category is unfair and contradicts the core idea of sporting competition."

Grassroots sport

All parties that mention sports in their election manifestos claim to want to promote grassroots sports, for example, by making money available for the renovation of dilapidated sports facilities.

According to their own statements, the CDU and the Left Party want to ensure that all children in Germany can swim by the time they finish primary school. Currently, around 20% of 6 to 10 year olds are non-swimmers.

The CDU and FDP are aiming to maintain the "Federal Youth Games with a competitive character." These annual sporting events have been held at German schools since 1979.

In 2023, there was a controversial reform of the Federal Youth Games that made them less competetive and added more playful elements.

The BSW promises, if elected, to introduce a federal government subsidy of up to €150 ($157) per child for the first year of a sports club membership.

Some political parties in Germany have promised to give esports clubs charitable statusImage: Wunderl/BEAUTIFUL SPORTS/picture alliance

Esports

As for esports, the CDU promises to recognize it as a sport worthy of non-profit status."

Non-profit associations enjoy tax advantages in Germany. To gain this status, tax authorities must recognize that organizations, "selflessly promote the general public in material, spiritual or moral terms," the law states, including the "promotion of sports."

The Greens and FDP have also announced that they want to grant esports — competitions between computer gamers who compete individually or in teams — charitable status.

According to estimates by Germany's esports national association, around 3 million mainly young people play esports in Germany, where there are 250 clubs.

- Stefan Nestler

WHY GERMANY'S 2006 WORLD CUP PATRIOTIC FERVOR IS UNLIKELY TO REPEAT IN 2024

AP Photo 

 BERLIN (AP) — When Germany hosted the 2006 World Cup, it unleashed an unexpected burst of national pride across the country. For many Germans, it was the first time they felt they could wave the flag unburdened by the country’s dark past.

As Germany gets ready to host another major soccer tournament, the European Championship, such scenes of patriotic fervor are hard to imagine happening again.

While the national team could yet coax reluctant Germans to celebrate, the country itself is going through difficult times politically, with a far-right surge making many uncomfortable about public displays of national pride.

AP Photo 

Even with Germany’s opening game on Friday against Scotland just days away, there are few German flags hanging from balconies or windows, few national colors on show.

“It’s not going to be like 2006, because we’ve moved on 18 years and there are conflicts everywhere,” said Stephan Uersfeld, a sports columnist for broadcaster NTV. “Conflicts within German society, conflicts within Europe. It hadn’t been the case in 2006.”

Germany was one of the countries where the far-right made significant gains in elections to the European Parliament on Sunday. Alternative for Germany, or AfD, came second.

In 2006, the country wasn’t as polarized. Germans still refer to the World Cup that year as a “Sommermärchen,” or summer fairy-tale.

It was the first time Germany hosted a major soccer tournament since reunification. The economy was recovering from a deep depression with unemployment at 12.6% in 2005 – the highest it’s ever been since the war – and new Chancellor Angela Merkel promised better times to come.

AP Photo 

She enthusiastically cheered along as a young Germany team coached by Jürgen Klinsmann defied expectations to reach the semifinals in a country where soccer is by far the most popular sport. The good weather also played its part. Germans watched on large screens in beer gardens, on the streets or among friends at home, then continued the parties in parks and clubs.

“It was just a great atmosphere,” Uersfeld said. “I think the entire country was proud to actually host a tournament and be such a great host. They couldn’t believe that people liked what they saw in Germany. You had people coming from all over the world.”

He said hosting a European Championship isn’t as big as hosting a World Cup.

It’s questionable if even a World Cup would generate a similar celebratory mood now as in 2006. There hasn’t been the same collective mass-displays of national pride in the country since, not even after Germany won the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Anxiety over the rise of AfD, which uses the German flag frequently in campaigning, and more extremist groups has put many Germans off from displaying national symbols.

“Nobody wants to be confused with the right-wing stuff,” said Axel Lischke, a sound engineer in Berlin.

He described himself as a fan of soccer, but not particularly of Germany, and said he would likely root for Scotland in the opening match on Friday.

“I would love to see German society treating everyone equally,” said Lischke, who suggested the image of the multicultural German national team is only a vision. He pointed to the treatment of former Germany international Mesut Özil after the team flopped at the 2018 World Cup.

Özil, who has Turkish roots, was made the scapegoat for Germany’s group-stage exit and a target for racist abuse. The president of the German soccer federation, DFB, at the time, Reinhard Grindel, later regretted not giving Özil more support.

AP Photo

The DFB has since positioned itself in direct opposition to the far-right, promoting inclusion and tolerance. It has launched campaigns against racism and discrimination.

“It’s part of our work,” DFB general secretary Heike Ullrich told The AP. “You cannot say that sport has no role in politics. And we know how strongly football can be used as a model to send out politically important messages.”

Just before Euro 2024, a TV documentary questioned the German national team’s role in fostering integration in a multicultural society.

Germany defender Jonathan Tah and former internationals Shkodran Mustafi and Gerald Asamoah talked about the racism and hostility they faced.

The program on public broadcaster ARD included a survey asking 1,304 participants if they would prefer more white players on the team. One in five replied they would.

Both Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann and midfielder Joshua Kimmich said they were shocked that the broadcaster would even ask such a question.

“When you consider that we are about to host a European Championship at home, it’s absurd to ask such a question when the aim is actually to unite the whole country,” Kimmich said. “It’s about achieving great things together. As a team, we’re trying to get everyone in Germany behind us.”

To what extent that will happen – even if it doesn’t reach 2006 levels – will become clear once Germany gets the tournament underway on Friday.

- CIARÁN FAHEY