German Sports Funding System Faces Criticism Over Rankings

The Potenzialanalysesystem ranks dressage as the top-funded sport while sidelining others, prompting backlash from sports leaders.

The Potenzialanalysesystem (Potas), used to allocate federal sports funding, ranked dressage as the most promising sport in Germany, with hockey and kayaking following in second and third place.
Sports like taekwondo, water polo, and weightlifting received the lowest rankings, raising concerns about their future funding and support.
Critics argue that the Potas system is flawed, citing discrepancies between past rankings and actual athletic success, such as basketball teams exceeding expectations despite low rankings.
The president of the German Basketball Federation, Ingo Weiss, called for Potas to be abolished, criticizing its methodology and bureaucratic demands on sports organizations.
The system, introduced in 2016, is under review, with plans to remove federation structures from the evaluation criteria to reduce bureaucracy.