Launch of the Three Rivers Dialogue: Passau’s Clubs Need Less Bureaucracy and More Reliability
On Tuesday evening, the Three Rivers Dialogue got under way with the topic of sport – a new discussion format in which the three city councillors of the FDP group, group chairman Prof. Dr. Holm Putzke, deputy Prof. Georg …
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On Tuesday evening, the Three Rivers Dialogue (Drei-Flüsse-Dialog) got under way with the topic of sport – a new discussion format in which the three city councillors of the FDP group, group chairman Prof. Dr. Holm Putzke, deputy Prof. Georg Steiner and Sebastian Frankenberger, regularly bring together figures from business, politics, social affairs, sport, urban development and culture around one table. Around 20 participants followed the launch on site and online. In keeping with the ongoing football World Cup, the question was what makes sport in Passau special – and what importance it could have in future.
On the panel were Philipp Roos, chairman of 1. FC Passau 1911 e.V., and Christian Eder, chairman of the Passau city sports association (Stadtverband für Sport Passau). With Holm Putzke – chairman of the federal sports and arbitration court of German Cycling, triathlon referee and multiple Ironman finisher – each of the hosts brought decades of experience in organised sport to the table themselves.
Relieving clubs instead of administering them
One common thread ran through the evening: Passau’s clubs achieve an enormous amount, entirely on a voluntary basis – but lose too much energy on administrative tasks. The group therefore came up with the proposal of a municipal service point for clubs that would digitally bundle membership and financial administration as well as the allocation of sports facilities, keeping the committees free for other things. In addition, a joint membership fee for children was suggested: a single fee allowing children to try out several sports without families having to pay several times over.
“Sport is infrastructure – just like roads and schools,” said Prof. Georg Steiner. “Strengthening clubs strengthens the cohesion of a city. And that reaches into every single neighbourhood.”
Funding: clear criteria instead of gut feeling
The practice of sports funding was discussed critically. Several participants called for comprehensible, publicly accessible criteria – for municipal funds as well as for sponsorship, for example by Passau’s banks. Particularly where the city has a say through the relevant boards, it could work to ensure that sports funding is strengthened and awarded according to clear rules rather than according to who has the best contacts. A look at other cities shows that there is room for improvement here; the same debate is also taking place in the cultural scene.
“Transparency costs nothing,” stressed Holm Putzke. “If it is clear which criteria funding is based on, all clubs benefit – and nobody has to wonder why they have come away empty-handed.”
Another point: funding from the federal government, the state and the EU is too rarely drawn down in Passau. It worked for the artificial turf pitch – but that must not remain an isolated case.
Sports facilities: from promise to project
The floodlights for the Dreiflüssestadion, promised back in 2019 and still not installed, were also raised. The tenor was that the stadium could be far more than a match venue: a place for tournaments, events and encounters. One concrete idea was a sports festival at the Dreiflüssestadion together with clubs from Passau’s twin towns – such tournaments have taken place before, for example in Krems. There are also dedicated funding pots for formats of this kind. A Passau marathon was put forward as a further idea.
“There are plenty of ideas in Passau, and many committed people work in the administration,” said Sebastian Frankenberger in conclusion. “What is missing is a clear guideline from the top. We don’t need structures that prevent things, but a culture that enables them – an attitude that first asks how something can be done, not why it can’t. That is why we don’t want to turn this evening into a wish list, but into motions.”
What happens next
The three city councillors are taking several concrete projects away from the launch: a motion disclosing which of the Lord Mayor’s discretionary funds are used for what – not only in the culture committee but also in the sports committee; an examination of a service point for clubs; a sports festival at the Dreiflüssestadion with the town-twinning associations; a systematic review of which funding programmes Passau has so far left unused; and digitalisation of the allocation of training and match times.
The Three Rivers Dialogue will continue: one evening, one topic, an open exchange – always hybrid, on site and online, so that genuinely everyone can take part. The next topic will be announced shortly.
The post Auftakt zum Drei-Flüsse-Dialog: Passaus Vereine brauchen weniger Bürokratie und mehr Verlässlichkeit first appeared on FDP Fraktion | TEAM Putzke.