Resolution of the National Council: Tax conditions in professional sports should be improved

2023-04-27 16:18:06

In addition, strict interpretation of the IOC recommendations for athletes from Russia and Belarus is required

Vienna (PK) – According to a unanimous resolution, a new legal framework is to be drawn up in order to meet the special needs of professional sport in terms of labor, tax and social security law. With a large majority, the National Council is also in favor of a strict interpretation of the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) regarding the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus in international competitions as “neutral athletes”. Only the FPÖ parliamentary group voted against it and called for a general end to the sports sanctions against Russia.

Initiative for professional sports law

In order to improve the conditions for sports-specific professions in labor, tax and social security law, the ÖVP and the Greens are suggesting the drafting of a professional sports law. Such is also provided for in the government program. Specifically, the deputies demanded the protection of athletes, trainers and employees in associations and clubs as well as the elimination of existing unequal treatment in the recognition of the specifics of sport.

Agnes Sirkka Prammer (Greens) explained that the “tangle” of different labor law provisions for people working full-time in sports was taken as an opportunity to work on a professional sports law and create legally secure conditions.

According to Elisabeth Feichtinger and Petra Tanzler (both SPÖ), there is an urgent need for improvement. Seasonal athletes, for example, are currently left hanging in the air because they have to register with the AMS outside of the season, Feichtinger said. She called for the rapid establishment of a working group in the Ministry of Sports, the elimination of legal uncertainties and the development of a collective agreement for all professional groups in sports.

While legal certainty is taken for granted in other professional groups, this has been postponed for years in sport, said Petra Steger (FPÖ), who spoke of an “alibi request” from the governing parties. The ÖVP and the Greens would ask themselves to take action, even though they had had three years to do so.

Yannick Shetty (NEOS) also criticized the “non-binding self-promotion” of the governing parties, despite the factual approval of the matter. In the Sports Committee, there was only one government bill during this legislative period.

The ÖVP mandaters Christoph Zarits, Karl Schmidhofer and Alexander Melchior then referred to the measures taken by the federal government in the current legislative period in the field of sports and the sports budget. Austria should change from a sporting country to a sporting nation, said Zarits. According to him, the process of drafting a professional sports law would now start with the involvement of stakeholders and with topics such as work rest, protection of minors and training.

Sport sanctions against Russia

The governing parties also encourage the Minister of Sports to work to ensure that the recommendations recently published by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus as “neutral athletes” in international competitions are strictly interpreted and specified. In particular, for the definition of military personnel, it is important to set a retrospective deadline so that they are excluded from major international events. The concept of team also needs to be specified.

Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler sees it the same way. As one of 35 sports ministers, he approached the IOC with the request to allow individual athletes with a Russian passport to take part in international events, but at the same time to ensure that there was no propaganda. It is therefore important to specify in the IOC guidelines that neither teams flying the Russian flag nor members of the military can participate. It is unreasonable for Ukrainian athletes to compete with them, said Kogler.

For Agnes Sirkka Prammer (Greens), a clarification from the IOC is also important in order to create a possibility for the athletes concerned to be able to take part in the Olympic Games without being used by Russia as a platform for political agitation.

The sports associations would decide autonomously, added Christoph Zarits (ÖVP). As a neutral country, Austria should not remain silent when human rights are trampled on. With appropriate clarification, starting under a neutral flag is conceivable, he said.

Maximilian Köllner (SPÖ) spoke out in favor of following the recommendations of the IOC and standing up for sanctions. Sport should be preserved as a place of community and peace. According to Köllner, warmongers should never be given a stage on a sporting level, even if sport has a political dimension.

Politicians should not interfere in sport and athletes should not have to pay the price for a conflict, said Axel Kassegger (FPÖ). In his opinion, being excluded from a sporting event solely on the basis of nationality would be discriminatory and a violation of the human right to participate in cultural life. Athletes should not be sanctioned. His FPÖ parliamentary colleague Petra Steger is concerned with preventing the political exploitation of sport and “political distortion of competition”. In her opinion, a ban on Russian athletes participating in international competitions would be exactly that and contradict the Olympic idea. Their request to end esports sanctions against Russia was denied, as was a NEOS request to expand them.

Yannick Shetty (NEOS) said that the Russian war crimes should not only be understood as a fight against Ukraine, but also against Europe and the open society. For him it is therefore “outrageous” that the IOC supports the participation of athletes from Russia. The proposed sports sanctions would not cost a dime, but would divide the elites in Russia, where sport has a high social importance, he argued his initiative. (Continued National Council) fan

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