The Western and Central European Model of Sport Under Pressure

Konjer, Mara & Meier, Henk Erik

Abstract

In this chapter, we examine the Western and Central European model of sport, particularly using Germany as an example while also taking a look at neighboring countries with a similar structure, such as Austria. The Western and Central European model of sport represents the elements of the EMS in many aspects: Since the end of World War II, sport activity is primarily provided by volunteer sports clubs, which enjoy a high degree of autonomy from governmental interference. There exists a pyramidal, hierarchical structure with sport organizations at the national, regional and local level. The sport sector is financed based on the principle of subsidiarity meaning that the sport sector should first rely on its own resources. However, the public interest in the services provided by the sport clubs has given rise to neo-corporatist arrangements at every level of Germany’s federal state architecture. Thus, public authorities provide public subsidies to motivate sport organizations to consider the public interest.  In Germany, the national federations for elite sports (formerly National Olympic Committee) and popular sports (formerly German Sport Federation) have merged to form a new top-level federation called German Olympic Sport Federation (Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund – DOSB). Most competitive sports still practice by promotion and relegation. However, (semi-)closed league systems can already be seen in some cases (e.g., in German basketball or ice hockey). The incumbent neo-corporatist sports model is under increasing pressure for the following exemplary reasons, which we will further elaborate in this chapter: a) The declining athletic success at the Olympic Summer Games since the reunification 30 years ago has facilitated ongoing discussions about the role of the state in elite sport. However, the neo-corporatist arrangement has resisted recent reform attempts by the state to increase its influence. b) The civic sport sector is increasingly under pressure from secular social trends such as digitalization, individualisation and migration that lead to declining membership figures, further reinforced by the Covid-19 pandemic. We will show why the civic sport sector has so far only insufficiently managed to respond to these trends while other sport sectors and even sport models are increasingly gaining importance. c) The crisis of the Western European sports model in Germany can also be traced back to the weakness of state-organized sports. Particularly in the area of physical education, the increasing number of all-day schools in interaction with an enormous backlog of renovations to public sports facilities and a shortage of teachers are leading to a massive lack of physical activity and a loss of importance of sporting activity among children and young people, which club sports are yet unable to compensate.