Minister Kogler on ÖOC-Causa: "Festival of vanity"

2023-06-11 19:08:02

Both sides would currently give the impression that the officials are not there for the sport, but that the sport is there for the officials, said Kogler on the ORF program “Sport am Sonntag”. “You get the impression it’s about a festival of vanity.”

There has been a rift in Austria’s squad of sports officials since the ÖOC board at the end of May expressed its distrust in an election committee it had set up itself for the new elections to be held. The current board justifies this by saying that the proposal reached the media prematurely. The critics are of the opinion that the leadership around ÖOC President Karl Stoss simply did not like the composition of the potential board. Stoss himself admitted in an ORF report that the “leadership comfort” he had in mind was not given when the proposal was rejected.

Five dissatisfied sports associations (swimming, golf, gymnastics, basketball, wrestling) had convened an extraordinary ÖOC general meeting as a reaction on Monday. Items on the agenda of the meeting, which is to be held by July 3 at the latest, could be changes to the statutes and possibly a motion of no confidence in the current ÖOC leadership.

Swimming Association President Arno Pajek waited in the ORF on Sunday in addition to already known criticism with a new legal opinion. Accordingly, the term of office of the current ÖOC board expired at the end of February 2023. According to Pajek, the group around Stoss was no longer allowed to relieve the election committee of its task. Herbert Houf rejected this argument in the ORF discussion round as a representative of the ÖOC board.

The new term of office will only last two years instead of the usual four years, because the most recent one, due to a corona-related extension, lasted six years. The elections took place on March 1, 2017. The new composition of the election committee is scheduled for June 14. A newly elected board of directors, including the presidency, should be finalized before the end of this year.