Allegations of abuse in gymnastics
Turn President: “I don’t know what else is coming”
After allegations of abuse at gymnastics centers, the waves continue to hit up. Are there any other cases to light up? DTB President Alfons Hölzl does not exclude personnel consequences.
The German Turner Bund (DTB) does not rule out further cases after the recent abuse closures in the centers of Stuttgart and Mannheim. “To be honest, I don’t know what’s still coming,” said DTB President Alfons Hölzl in the interview of the “Bild am Sonntag”. And further: “First of all, a lot focuses on the Stuttgart base, but we also have other messages. We are not blind.”
Since the end of December there have been numerous public statements in which former gymnasts and finally a gymnast criticized grievances at German bases. It is primarily about harsh and authoritarian training methods, “systematic physical and mental abuse” as well as catastrophic circumstances.
Most recently, the German record champion Elisabeth Seitz reported on incidents at the Mannheim base, where she had trained to Stuttgart until her change in 2015. “The sentence that I always had to hear was: stop feeling sorry for yourself,” said the 31-year-old.
“Do not shy away from personnel consequences”
Two trainers are released at the Kunst-Turn-Forum Stuttgart until further notice. Ex-national coach Ulla Koch has her office as Vice President temporarily and for the duration of the processing.
DTB President Hölzl has now announced that the associations would separate from those responsible for proven misconduct. “We will not shy away from personnel. .
Last Thursday, the Stuttgart public prosecutor’s office announced that the State Criminal Police Office of Baden-Württemberg started an investigation into a former coach of the Stuttgart Art Turn Forum in the course of the gymnastics scandal. It is about suspicion of coercion in several cases. In connection with the investigation, searches were carried out in several objects and documents were ensured. According to dpa information, the office of the Schwäbische Turnerbund (StB) and the Kunst-Turn-Forum were searched.
DTB supports official investigations
“The DTB supported these investigations from the start and will continue to do so,” said Hölzl. One understood the search, “so that the facts are comprehensively clarified from an official perspective,” emphasized the lawyer.
Regardless of this, the DTB commissioned a law firm from Frankfurt am Main to examine the allegations. In addition, an independent and interdisciplinary expert council is formed. Both are “of central importance,” said Hölzl.
dpa
Source: Stern
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