Switzerland: The organisation of sport and policy towards sport federations

Abstract

The model underlying the organisation of sport in Switzerland is based on two main principles: the independence of Switzerland’s Olympic Committee (Swiss Olympic) and national sport federations from the State and the “federalised implementation” of sports policies-a consequence of Switzerland’s federal structure. In terms of the VOCASPORT typology, Switzerland’s sport policy/organisation model can be categorised as an evolving missionary configuration, in which the sports movement has traditionally relied on volunteers and had substantial autonomy to make decisions, but which has recently seen a substantial increase in government regulation and financing (with the creation of a sort of federal ministry for sport in 1999 and a fourfold increase in government expenditure on sport between 1972, when Switzerland’s first federal sports act was passed, and 2011). The commercial sector is also an important part of Swiss sport, due to the size of the fitness industry.