Dressage rider Isabell Werth is worried about the future of German equestrian sport. If the financially troubled German Equestrian Federation (FN) does not create the structures and have the means to finance training measures “in order to ultimately get young riders on the track, then we will certainly no longer be able to maintain our track record in the long term,” says Germany’s most successful Olympian in a “Sportschau” report.
With five medals, the riders were the most successful German sports association at the Olympic Games in Paris. But Werth believes this record is in danger in the future: “The junior section in particular needs the association,” says the eight-time gold medal winner.
976,000 euros loss in the past financial year
The financial problems of the Warendorf-based FN have been known since April. The umbrella organization closed the past financial year with a large deficit: instead of the planned 450,000 euros, the deficit was 976,000 euros. As a result, President Hans-Joachim Erbel and financial curator Gerhard Ziegler resigned.
“There were already reports at the beginning of the year that Warendorf was in need of restructuring. This was then vehemently denied, including by the president and the management, in the expectation that we would be positively surprised by the figures,” says Werth.
But the opposite has happened. It has been confirmed that the FN is financially ailing: “This shows that a lot of things have developed gradually, apparently even without the knowledge of the supervisory bodies.”
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240914-930-232334/1
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