It benefits no one. “Not the reporter, not sports organizations and not the Integere Sport Nederland center.” Tom van ‘t Hek, chairman of the Dutch Sports Council, wrote this this Thursday in a letter to State Secretary Judith Tielen of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) about her plans for a new institute to be established that will guarantee “safe and honest sport in which everyone, young and old, can enjoy (top) sports and exercise”.
The Sports Council is an independent advisory body for the Dutch government and parliament, which studied the bill at the request of the State Secretary. The assessment of the Integere Sport Nederland (ISN) center is harsh. “Does ISN, as the law now provides, help athletes and the sports industry with ethical sport? The answer is no,” Van ‘t Hek writes at the end of his fourteen-page letter.
The new center to be established, which is separate from the sports umbrella organization NOC-NSF and the sports associations, has a longer history. The immediate reason was the abuses in gymnastics, which will be discussed in 2021 the report Uneven Legs was published by Marjan Olfers, professor of law and sport at the VU, and criminologist Anton van Wijk. It paints a picture of a problematic sports culture, which particularly affects former gymnasts. Some are unable to work or have relationships. They struggle with depression, suicidal thoughts and irritability.
Long list of objections
Van ‘t Hek thanks the State Secretary who took office in June for submitting the bill so quickly, but then comes up with a long list of objections. “The NLsportraad believes that the bill exudes too much confidence in the effect of the mere existence of a law,” he writes. “The practice must then arrange further implementation. It is too much assumed that the quartermaster will arrange and solve everything.”
Van ‘t Hek also finds it unclear “what the transgressive behavior is that the center is about” and he lacks financial substantiation. “The current financial foundation is insufficiently developed and therefore too uncertain to establish a future-proof center,” he writes.
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As far as the Sports Council is concerned, those reporting social insecurity will get a bad rap at the ISN. Psychological help is not properly arranged, reporting anonymously is “almost impossible” and the reporter has no control. “If a reporter wants to withdraw his report, ISN will decide whether the investigation will actually stop.”
Marjan Olfers agrees with Van ‘t Hek’s criticism. She calls the bill “not well thought out” and believes that it “does not solve existing problems.” Such a center should not be housed by the government, Olfers tells NRC. “It is the responsibility of the sport itself. So put that responsibility where it belongs.”
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