Former Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble died at the age of 81 surrounded by his family. As Federal Minister of the Interior, the CDU politician was also responsible for sport in Germany between 1989 and 1991 and 2005 and 2009. He had also been a member of the sports committee since 1972.
DOSB recognizes Schäuble as a great supporter of sport
The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) honored Schäuble on Wednesday (December 27, 2023) via short message service X as one of the “biggest supporters” of sport. In 1989, the CDU politician launched the “Integration through Sport” funding program, which aims to get people with and without a migrant background to get involved in sports clubs. The DOSB is responsible for nationwide implementation and overall coordination.
Schäuble also worked on the unification treaty during the reunification of Germany in 1990 together with Lothar de Maizière, the first and last freely elected Prime Minister of the GDR. This also affected organized sport, because the unification agreement created two important institutions: the Institute for Research and Development of Sports Equipment (FES) and the Institute for Applied Training Science (IAT).
The DOSB had already awarded Schäuble the “Medal of Honor for German Sports” in Düsseldorf in 2009. After former Federal President Horst Köhler (2008), Schäuble was the second politician to be awarded the medal.
Schäuble’s involvement in para sports too
Thomas Bach was DOSB President at the time and now heads the International Olympic Committee (IOC). On the occasion of his death, he described Schäuble as a “friend of sport” and emphasized, among other things: “He always emphasized the unifying power of sport, which brings all people together without any discrimination.”
Schäuble, who had been in a wheelchair since October 1990 after a gun attack by a mentally ill man, was also involved in para sports. He took over patronage several times, for example for the 23rd International German Swimming Championships in 2009.
At that time he emphasized: “With their impressive will to perform, top athletes with disabilities are role models for many in our society. Sport can improve the quality of life of every person.”
Doping study 2013: Controversy over Schäuble’s attitude
In the X article on Schäuble’s death, the DOSB also wrote: “He was a great fighter against doping.” This was also emphasized personally by DOSB board chairman Torsten Burmester: “I have special memories of his energetic fight against doping in sport and my trip with him to the Olympic Games in Beijing.”
However, a study by the Federal Institute for Sports Science (BISp), which examined doping in West Germany, caused an uproar in 2013. After four years of research, the BISp published the results report of two research groups from Berlin and Münster. This painted the picture of doping research that was tolerated by the state and financed by taxpayers’ money, which was primarily carried out by Freiburg sports medicine.
In the course of this, the former Federal Minister of the Interior Hans-Dietrich Genscher (1969-1974) and Schäuble were accused of having exerted pressure on West German sports doctors. The “Süddeutsche Zeitung” reported at the time that the following quote was attributed to Schäuble in the long version of the study: “If it doesn’t do any harm, we should give our athletes the best possible.” Schäuble is said to have made this statement as the CDU’s sports policy spokesman in the sports committee in the 1970s.
Both Genscher and Schäuble vehemently denied the allegations. In response, a spokesman for Schäuble said at the time that the politician could no longer remember having said a specific sentence in the past. But Schäuble was always against doping. Schäuble publicly acknowledged this stance several times afterwards.