“When people from the sports world ask me whether things should have gone better at the ISR, I immediately say: yes, of course. But we are dealing with the current situation and must improve from there.”
The question whether the Ministry of Long-term Care and Sport is prepared to make an extra contribution was left unanswered by Helder. “First I finish the conversations with the ISR and the gymnasts to make sure that I am well informed about what is going on. Only then do I make statements about which measures are necessary.”
Unacceptable behavior
On Monday, Helder had an extensive update in the woods of sports center Papendal about recent developments in Dutch top sport, in which cross-border behavior was a common thread through the conversations. The agenda included a visit to the Center for Safe Sports (CVS).
“The people of the CVS emphasized during the conversations we had that the entire chain must be in order. From the basics of Dutch sport up to and including disciplinary proceedings.”
The gymnastics world has been on fire for almost two years after revelations about abuses from the past. Recently top gymnasts Lieke Wevers, Tisha Volleman and Naomi Visser sounded the alarm about the lack of perspective.
