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During the pandemic, it had to be done quickly. The football clubs played for empty ranks, the indoor tennis courts remained closed. And so the coffins of the clubs remained empty. The federal government intervened: in 2021 it issued no fewer than 100 million francs.
But now the Ministry of Sports Minister Viola Amherd (61) wants at least part of the money back. An investigation revealed indications that some subsidies were not used for their intended purpose, writes the Federal Office of Sport (Baspo).
Football clubs vibrate…
Last fall, Baspo announced it would recover “an estimated four million Swiss francs” paid to the Super League and Challenge League football clubs.
During the pandemic, the clubs had used two different pots of aid. This resulted in illegal cross-subsidies. The football clubs must now repay the excess money received before the end of the year. While the football clubs are complaining – FC Thun even speaks to CH Media of existential anxieties – it is clear that there are other problems.
… and also the climbing and tennis halls
Other sports-related organizations, such as individual climbing or tennis halls, had also used the Corona support to increase their equity or pay dividends. Financial losses were reported in many cases, some of which were not directly related to the pandemic.
The Federal Bureau is also likely to demand money back if organizations have made disproportionately high annual profits during the pandemic. “About 180 organizations from different sports, each of which has received more than CHF 100,000 in corona aid, are being rechecked for this,” says Baspo spokesperson Tobias Fankhauser.
De Baspo does not assume bad intentions – but wants to demand the money back from the Swiss Olympic trade association. “It is not yet possible to say how much money will be recovered in total. This will now become apparent from the detailed research of Swiss Olympic,” said Fankhauser.
It is unclear which organizations are involved
Swiss Olympics also does not want to say which organizations are involved. The investigation has been going on for a while, says Roger Schnegg (55), director of Swiss Olympic. “For this purpose, an external accountant requests the documents from the organizations involved and then draws up a report.”
Commercial climbing and tennis halls are mentioned in the test report. “The aid was paid to cover damage, not to finance profit,” says Schnegg. But he also suspects no malicious intent. He emphasizes that the tennis halls in particular suffered damage because they had to close in the winter, i.e. during the high season.
“We assume that very few cases — that is, a low-single-digit percentage of all disbursed cases — will actually have to repay the aid,” says Schnegg.
Reprimand to the Federal Office
The research also rejects the Baspo. “The test results show that the current supervision system is reaching its limits in the context of the Corona crisis.” It should even be examined whether the system of indirect sports promotion via Swiss Olympic needs to be adjusted.
However, De Baspo sees no alternative. It is believed that fundamental changes in sports finance financing should now be decided “not just on the basis of findings from a crisis situation”. (brother)
Source:Blick
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