Historic merger in German sports
Germany replaced two old sports organisations with one new on 20 May as its former sports confederation and national Olympic Committee merged into a new all-encompassing sports confederation Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund (DOSB).
As the first president of the new confederation the delegates elected the 53-years old IOC-member Thomas Bach, a former Olympic fencing champion and experienced sports leader.
Bach took up his new position by declaring war on doping, corruption and other kinds of cheating in sport.
“We announce that we will fight manipulation of any kind, be it in the form of doping or corruption, with zero tolerance", stressed Thomas Bach while acknowledging that "in this matter we are facing challenges of a terrifying magnitude”.
Bach launched the new idea of nominating a number of “anti-doping trustees” to whom athletes could go for confidential talks:
“Athletes are often led to doping by their immediate surroundings, or not kept back by them. In this important phase of decision-making the athlete rarely finds a partner to talk to in confidence who has not at least an indirect interest in the sports results.”
As one of five vice-president in the new DOSB, the delegates appointed a well-known friend of Play the Game, professor Gudrun Doll-Tepper.
Gudrun Doll-Tepper is the president of the world sports science umbrella, ICSSPE, which is a long-term partner of Play the Game. At DOSB Gudrun Doll-Tepper will be in charge of education matters.