Former Federal Councillor Ruth Metzler is running for President of Swiss Olympic. She would be the first woman to head Swiss sport. She gives her first interview about her candidacy in the “Tagesgespräch”.
Ruth Metzler
Former Federal Councillor
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Ruth Metzler-Arnold was a member of the Federal Council for the then CVP from 1999 to 2003 and headed the Federal Department of Justice and Police. In 2003, she was also Vice President of the Federal Council. Her removal from the Federal Council led to heated discussions.
In 1996, she was the first woman to be elected to the cantonal government of Appenzell Innerrhoden, where she headed the Finance Department until her election to the Federal Council.
She serves as president and member of several boards of directors as well as supervisory, foundation and advisory bodies. Since July 2018, she has been president of the Foundation of the Pontifical Swiss Guard in the Vatican.
SRF News: Swiss Olympic is the umbrella organization for Swiss sport and the National Olympic Committee. What appeals to you about this position?
Ruth Metzler-Arnold: It is a strategic management function with a variety of tasks and associations involved. You are committed to the whole of Switzerland, to a wide variety of sports. And if you look at everything I have done in my life, then this commitment keeps coming back.
But you are a woman from politics and business and do not come from sport like your two opponents Markus Wolf (former director of Swiss Ski) and Sergej Aschwanden (former judoka). Why should the sports associations vote for you?
This position does not primarily require specific specialist knowledge. The expert knowledge is primarily available in the professional associations, the Executive Board or the office. In my opinion, the Executive Board needs a network in politics and business, and I have that. It’s about using relationships to drive projects forward.
So far, we have missed the opportunity to link sport more closely with business or science.
But to do that you have to know the needs of the athletes?
Sure. I haven’t given any media interviews so far because I wanted to use the time to get to know the associations. That’s important. But after that you need a network to implement things. For example, we’ve missed the opportunity to link sport more closely with business or science.
How do new ideas emerge? When people talk to each other.
What does this mean in concrete terms: How should sport work more closely with business?
On the one hand, it’s about how the economy can contribute more money than before, especially at major events. But it’s also about exchange. When I’m at a business event, I never see representatives of sport, and that’s a mistake. Sport is also an economic factor. How do new ideas come about? By people talking to each other.
One could also invite athletes and officials to these events, why do we need you?
I have a network throughout Switzerland. I think my fame is a plus, even if it doesn’t always suit me in my private life. It helps me bring people together.
I wouldn’t have gotten through several difficult phases in my life so well if I hadn’t had sport.
Let’s look back: In 2003, you were voted out of the Federal Council after only four years. Are the memories of that still painful?
That is a long way away. When I walk across the Bundesplatz, it doesn’t trigger any bad feelings, even if I would have liked to have been a Federal Councillor for longer. Sport gave me a lot back then. I would not have gotten through various difficult phases in my life so well if I hadn’t had sport. The year after I was voted out of office, I ran my first marathon in New York.
The interview was conducted by Simone Hulliger.
