With the new federal government, the sport moves to the Chancellery and receives managers without sports expertise. Does the view from outside help?
The federal sports policy has been sorted, on Wednesday (May 21st, 2025) the sports committee, which is now the name of a committee for sports and volunteering. The new title is one of many innovations associated with the change of government in Berlin.
The most important change: The sports department moves from the Ministry of the Interior to the Chancellery and in Christiane Schenderlein (CDU) a Minister of State for Sport and Volunteering at the top. A long -cherished wish of organized sport is fulfilled. Associated with this: hope for more visibility and a direct line to the chancellor.
What does the change to the Chancellery bring?
“The practical test is still pending, but this institutional realignment can develop new perspectives, especially with a view to the attention that will be given to future sports policy”, ” Says sports scientist Jürgen Mittag, professor of sports policy at the German Sport University Cologne, in the Sportschau-interview. “In the Ministry of the Interior, the sport was a department among many, not insignificant, but not with the strongest attention and ministerial support. It can now be different in the Chancellery with its own Minister of State.”
Jürgen Mittag, Professor of Sports Policy at the German Sports University Cologne
Bouffier from the Schenderlein personnel also surprised
The fact that the ministerial office goes to Schenderlein, a 43 -year -old political scientist from Leipzig, surprised everyone in sports, even Volker Bouffier. It is the main task of the board member in the German Olympic Sports Association (DOSB) to maintain close contacts with the Union government as a long-time CDU politician.
Bouffier said that Schenderlein, most recently cultural and media policy spokeswoman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the field of sport, has to be in the field of sports. “There can also be an opportunity. You can familiarize yourself and the decisive factor is that someone is burning for the matter.”
Department head Babette Kibele brings experience
In addition to the Minister of State, Babette Kibele, as the future department head in the Ministry of Sports, has no past in sports policy, but all the more in management positions. Kibele has worked in the Federal Ministry of the Interior and in the Chancellery for more than 20 years, so the day -to -day business knows well – just not sport.
“It was a recognizable goal of the black and red coalition to go into the new legislative period on the CDU and SPD side with new staff- not only in sports. This wants to express a restart and a delimitation from the past election period”says sports scientist lunch.
Wide sport even more in view?
In the future, Schenderlein will also be responsible for volunteering in addition to sport and gave this topic a lot of space in her inaugural speech in the Bundestag with a view of fire brigades, music clubs or care before she came to sports. Strictly speaking, the federal government is only responsible for top -class sport, but is also happy to act on popular sports, which is located in the area of responsibility of the states and municipalities.
It indicates that sports and volunteering in Berlin can now often be heard in accordance with the fact that the federal government wants to pay even more attention to popular sports.
Permanent topics Olympia and Top sports promotion
Nevertheless, in her speech, Schenderlein also mentioned the permanent burning topics in the field of top sport: the application for Olympic and Paralympic Games (“A real future task”) and the top sports reform (“Sports promotion has to be much more unbureaucratic and more flexible.”).
The latter was also a goal of the predecessor government that started ambitiously. However, the traffic light coalition was neither able to realize the planned sports funding law nor the sports development plan due to a headwind from different directions. To what extent the new coalition takes up long -term preparatory work is one of the many open questions.
Aydan Özoguz (SPD) takes over Committee chair
One of them also includes how the committee responsible for sport will act in the future. It has shrunk from 19 to 14 members and will also deal with volunteering in the future. The chair remains in the SPD hand, but changes from Frank Ullrich to Aydan Özoguz. She is the third woman in a central sports policy position and the third non -specialist strength.
| Name of the member | party |
|---|---|
Artur Auernhammer | CDU/CSU |
Fritz Güntzler | CDU/CSU |
Jens Lehmann | CDU/CSU |
Stephan Mayer | CDU/CSU |
Dieter Stier | CDU/CSU |
Jörn König | AfD |
Thomas Korell | AfD |
Lars Schieske | AfD |
Jasmina Hostert | SPD |
Bettina Lugk | SPD |
Aydan Özoguz | SPD |
Ophelia Nick | Alliance 90/The Greens |
Tina Winklmann | Alliance 90/The Greens |
Christian Görke | left |
Most recently, the 58 -year -old Hamburg native was Vice President of the Bundestag for four years and came up with a controversial one at the end of 2024 Social media posts to criticize the Gaza war. “That is why it was hesitant in Berlin – also on the part of their own party – to continue to assign a highlighted function”, says noon.
At Özoguz it could also apply that a look at sport could be helpful from the outside. “But the sports committee in particular is not primarily seen as a party policy body, but as a specialist body. Therefore, there are many observers in Berlin, also a certain sports policy expertise. That is why she is seen in Berlin with a certain skepticism “, says noon.
There is a lot to do
After several delays, the DOSB wants to agree on a concept for Olympic advertising this year, top sport continues to wait for a more efficient funding system and the ailing sports facility landscape needs a much more sensible federal funding than last. The task list for Christiane Schenderlein, Babette Kibele and Aydan Özoguz is long.