Sport political?!– Common problems, common solutions
Under the theme of “Participation and democracy in sport”, various stakeholders from the fields of sports, sports education and intercultural youth work came together at the UniverCity Lab on 4 June 2025 to jointly identify and discuss problems and develop ideas for solutions.
Sporting potential for more democracy
With a keynote speech on democracy education in sports, Prof Dr Christian Gaum, sports scientist at Ruhr-University Bochum, made a clear statement in favour of the democracy-building potential of sport. However, he also criticised the untested adoption of supposedly typical democratic sporting values. After all, many principles such as solidarity and co-determination are not democratic per se. Sport is an important instrument for conveying values. However, it must be filled with life and used in accordance with democratic principles. The task lies with everyone; democracy education is not an individual expertise, says Gaum.
Genuine participation & Equal opportunities – a strong position
The introductory presentation was followed by a joint familiarisation session and initial problem identification. In the subsequent World Café, the participants discussed the topics of “Democratic participation in sports clubs”, “Equal opportunities and inclusion in sports” and “Political positioning in and through sport”.According to the participants, the structural anchoring of democratic values in sport, e.g. through club statutes, is important. Genuine participation, on the other hand, can only be made possible through the dismantling of hierarchies, transparency and the opening up of spaces for dialogue. It is also relevant to create target group-orientated offers (e.g. free of charge) for many different people and to facilitate access to sport (e.g. through publicly available sports facilities). Sport bears a certain responsibility for political positioning, but at the same time also offers the opportunity to focus on the common ground that unites people in sport.
Team play beyond the sidelines
The participants left the UniverCity Lab in a spirit of optimism, with the feeling that the first kick-off had been made. More is needed. More networking, more commitment, more dialogue. But a lot is already there, as can be seen from the diverse players that this joint round brought together. Perhaps it just needs to be made visible and further strengthened. The UniverCity Lab was a good start, now the ball needs to be played on. Democracy education in sport is definitely team play.
