A parliamentary majority wants abuses in the sports world to be investigated more broadly than just in gymnastics. The government must conduct an investigation into abuses.
D66, VVD, CDA, GroenLinks, PvdA, SP, ChristenUnie and BIJ1 think so. In addition, the parties want the Center for Safe Sport to become ‘completely independent’ from the NOC*NSF sports federation.
A report on physical, psychological and emotional violence in the gymnastics world caused a lot of commotion this spring. It was recently announced that victims can receive a compensation of 5000 euros. Recently, signals from the dance world also emerged, including from whistleblower Kim Koumans. Various parties then suggested that they also investigate the dance world, this site reported last week.
According to D66 MP Jeanet van der Laan, it is ‘really important’ to look more broadly at abuses in sport. In addition, she wants the Center for Safe Sport to be more distant from the association. Now the Center for Safe Sport is still part of NOC*NSF, but the writers of the gymnastics report recommend a ‘hard cut’ between the two bodies.
trepidation
Athletes now often feel hesitant to sound the alarm, because many people in top sport know each other. According to Van der Laan, those connections and fear of reputational damage create a barrier. “I want to remove it as much as possible, abuses must be able to come to light.”
On Wednesday, the House will discuss the gymnastics report with State Secretary Paul Blokhuis. The revelations about the dance world will also be discussed. Van der Laan hopes that Blokhuis will have cross-border behavior in other sports investigated. Such a commitment would make her proposal superfluous, otherwise she will still submit the motion.
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