Swiss government steps up fight against abuse in sport

Following a scandal in 2020 that revealed abuses committed by national gymnastics managers, the government launched a project to strengthen ethics in sport © Keystone / Gaetan Bally

In order to combat abuse and harassment in elite sport more effectively, the Swiss sports ministry is to boost checks on associations that receive federal subsidies.

It also wants to guarantee funding for the new independent court of arbitration and create a legal basis to regulate data exchange.

These three recommendations come from the internal auditors of the sports ministry. Sports Minister Viola Amherd has instructed the Federal Office of Sport (FOSPO) to implement these measures by the end of 2024, the sports ministry said in a press release on Monday.

Following a scandal in 2020 that revealed abuses committed by national gymnastics managers, the government launched a project to strengthen ethics in sport. The first phase – successfully completed according to the auditors – saw the opening of an independent service for reporting cases of abuse in January 2022. A charter outlining the ethical behaviour to be adopted in Swiss sport has also been drawn up.

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The auditors consider that the second phase of the project – which should be completed by the end of 2025 – is “well on track” and that “the FOSPO and Swiss Olympic are fulfilling their responsibilities” in this respect. However, it recommends that additional measures be taken.

First, at the level of federal subsidies granted to sports associations through Swiss Olympic. The FOSPO must ensure that federal money only goes to organisations that respect the ethical guidelines. In the event of non-compliance with these rules, it should be possible to impose sanctions or demand repayment of the subsidies, the auditors wrote.

Second, the rules governing the exchange of data between the FOSPO and various private bodies – in particular the independent reporting service – should be enshrined in law. At the same time, the sports ministry body recommends that cases of abuse and other breaches of ethics should be brought together in a single database.

Finally, the FOSPO and Swiss Olympic must jointly finance the Swiss Sports Tribunal Foundation, a kind of independent arbitration tribunal for judging cases of abuse, which is due to be set up in July. The financial resources are important if this tribunal is to be able to carry out its tasks “fully and autonomously”, according to the auditors.

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