GERMANY
Capital: Berlin | Population: 83 million
Lead body for sport development: German Olympic Sports Confederation
| Government Support | B+ |
| Elite Sport Rank | 9 |
| Elite Sport Rank Per Capita | 32 |
| Youth Sport Participation Grade | B- |
The German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) is the non-governmental entity that oversees German sport, responsible for advancing the mass sport movement as well as elite performance pathways. A merger of the German Sports Confederation and the German Olympic Committee, the DOSB oversees 66 National Sport Federations, 16 regional sports confederations, and 17 sports associations, as well as 27 million memberships in 91,000 sports clubs where more than eight million volunteers provide 450 million hours of labor. Among the confederation members: German Sports Youth, the umbrella federation of organizations serving youth through age 27; it includes sport clubs at the regional and national federation levels.
Most of the power in German sports rests with local sport clubs, which in turn often become hubs for a range of other community activities such as festivals. Those 91,000 clubs and their associations form the backbone of Germany’s federated structure, which relies on interconnection, rather than top-down government control, to grow participation and advance sport from the grassroots to elite levels. This structure is more common in Northern European countries (e.g. Sweden, Norway, England) than in Southern European countries (e.g. Spain, Portugal, France).
The DOSB receives €293million ($322 million USD) in annual funding from the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community, the agency responsible for sport policy in Germany. The federal ministry works in coordination with the 16 states via the Ministries of Culture or the Interior to oversee sport in their respective regions. The federal government promotes world-class German sports, while the states and local government have the responsibility of promoting recreational sport for all. The government executes this work in coordination with the DOSB.
The guiding philosophies of the DOSB are “Sport is Good for Germany” and “Sport for All.” These slogans are operationalized through special initiatives and programs designed to promote women, families, senior citizens, migrants, and persons with disabilities with the pathways needed for fitness and health. The DOSB is also responsible for coach training and licensing and has more than 600 different educational curricula designed for coaches, exercise leaders, club managers, and leaders of youth programs. The DOSB supports community sport through membership fees, receipts from lottery revenues, and marketing licenses. The DOSB, through its Integrity Unit, is responsible for safeguarding of participants against violence or abuse, anti-doping, competition manipulation, and good governance.