Struggling for funding: Sports clubs are becoming a state affair

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Schaffhausen SVP State Councilor Hannes Germann (67) can only shake his head. It amounts to a few thousand francs per year for three sports clubs. “All those involved had hoped for a pragmatic solution. But once lawyers get involved, it gets complicated,” he says angrily. “It is unbelievable that something like this could become a state affair.”

The story started last year. The Federal Sports Office (Baspo) had made a fool of itself. The fact that officials have been wrongly paying youth and sports funds to clubs in Büsingen and Campione for years has caused ridicule and contempt in the country.

Although Büsingen is in the canton of Schaffhausen, it is part of Germany. And Campione d’Italia is completely surrounded by the canton of Ticino, but is Italian territory. So the clubs were never entitled to the money – about 75,000 francs in total. As soon as the federal government realized its mistake, it cut off the money supply.

It could be years before a solution is found

For the canton of Schaffhausen, the decision was only partially understandable. After all, Swiss members are the most important members of FC Büsingen, the tennis club and the gymnastics club. They are also active in Swiss leagues.

With Council of States Germann, FC Büsingen even has a representative in Bern. There, the Committee for Economy, Education and Culture turned to Minister of Sport Viola Amherd (61) with the request to quickly find a pragmatic solution. The children and young people must not suffer from the mistakes of the officials.

But: just like the proverbial burnt child, the officials now want to get it right. Totally correct. While further support for Campione is not a problem, Büsinger sports directors can continue to participate in Y+S courses after talks at different levels, provided they are registered through Schaffhausen’s sports office.

But it gets complicated with the earlier funding for camps, training or competitions. Because Swiss tax money could flow abroad. “The question of whether and how the subsidization of J+S offers in Büsingen could be possible is the subject of extensive ongoing clarifications,” says de Baspo. And that can take several years.

Should even the state treaty with Berlin be amended?

Not only the sports promotion program J+S is complex. It also concerns international agreements. “A formal agreement with the German authorities is required for the application of Swiss law in the enclave,” the federal agency explains. It is still unclear how exactly this should work. It is currently becoming clear whether the state treaty with Germany needs to be amended – which could lead to costs that are even considerably higher than the previous financing.

A lot of water will probably flow down the Rhine before a final solution is found. That is why the municipality of Büsingen and the canton of Schaffhausen stepped in. As an interim solution, they are willing to take on the missing J+S contributions – for three years, during which the federal government wants to clarify.

“It’s a Farce”

“We hoped for a pragmatic solution in the parliament of Federal Councilor Amherd,” says Councilor Germann. “But what’s happening here is a posse.” It is clear that the federal government wants to avoid another mistake. “It all seems very scary.”

Germann, for example, would have liked the federal government to “pragmatically refer to common law” and allow exceptions at the ordinance level. “The Germans would certainly have no problem if we took over the costs. So far it has worked,” says Germann. In any case, he hopes that he will not actually have to demand an amendment to the state treaty in parliament. “As soon as something goes through Berlin, it becomes complicated, expensive and takes forever.” (dba)

Source:Blick