The Austrian Ski Association is investigating an anonymous accusation circulated by the news magazine Der Spiegel, according to which a former ÖSV special-interest trainer “who as a young man was involved in the mass rape of a girl in Schladming decades ago” is still pursuing his work in the association today. Association President Peter Schröcksnadel has ordered an immediate internal investigation.
All trainers and officials are required by the ÖSV to have a certificate of good conduct, said Heidi Glück, the consultant responsible for ÖSV external communications, in a letter sent out on Monday. Should the accusation prove to be true, there will be immediate consequences, it said. According to Schröcksnadel there is “zero tolerance against any violence and abuse of power”.
The ÖSV had set up three independent expert commissions after the debate on incidents such as sexual assaults in the 1970s, which arose almost a year ago and was triggered above all by the allegations of abuse by former ÖSV racer Nicola Werdenigg.
Among other things, the ski association was confirmed that there are no structures in the ÖSV that systematically promote sexualised violence. The discussion with the accusations had led to a sensitization and a process of awareness within the ÖSV, it was said afterwards.
In the current Spiegel online payment article, new allegations of abuse against Austria’s ski legend Toni Sailer, who died in 2009, had also been made public. None of this is known to the ÖSV, they said on Monday.