German NOC Wants Athlete Input

(ATR) The German Olympic Sports Confederation wants to involve the athletes in the decision on Germany's participation in the 2021 Summer Games in Tokyo in the event of a continuing coronavirus crisis.

"During the phase of postponement, we had had an intensive forum and a great discussion", said DOSB President Alfons Hörmann in the ARD magazine "Sportschau Thema".

"From my understanding we would do it again next year."

However, a "collective decision" about Germany's participation in the Olympics is "as good as impossible", Hörmann said. There will never be a uniform decision in the circle of athletes.

"I have to say clearly: Only each individual athlete can make a decision for each individual athlete. Everyone who is now training for the Olympic Games has the right to participate in the Games," he said. Otherwise, he expects legal action from the athletes concerned.

The DOSB president expects a clear commitment from politicians for a possible bid by the Rhine-Ruhr region for the 2032 Summer Games.

According to Hörmann, in representative polls there is "up to 70 percent approval" for Olympic Games among the population of the Rhine and Ruhr region.

"The decisive question will be: After the pandemic, is German politics interested in implementing such a topic with medium and long-term perspectives?" he asked. "If that's not the case, then there's no sense in it."

Homepage photo: Wikimedia Commons

Written by Heinz Peter Kreuzer

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