Switzerland Today
Happy Chalandamarz/Shrove Tuesday/Pancake Day from Bern,
Why do so many scandals hit senior executives of international sports federations based in Switzerland? Here are the latest news and stories from Switzerland on Tuesday.
In the news: Retail sales of organic food in Switzerland rose 17% to CHF3.24 billion in 2020, reaching a market share of around 11% as the Covid-19 pandemic boosted demand.
- Just over a third of people polled for the “organic barometer” said their shopping habits had changed during the pandemic, with almost 5% buying more organic food due to Covid-19, the Federal Office for Agriculture said today. Fresh vegetables and potatoes were the best-selling items in the organic food category.
- Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) will not fly to Russia with immediate effect until the end of March. It said today it had taken the decision owing to Russia’s war against Ukraine. Until now, SWISS flew five times a week from Zurich to Moscow and twice from Geneva to Moscow, as well as once from Geneva to St Petersburg.
- Switzerland is set to have an official memorial for the victims of Nazism. According to the text of the motionExternal link by parliamentarian Alfred Heer, the memorial should “keep memories alive and raise awareness of the importance of democracy and the rule of law, especially among young people”.
Switzerland is home to many international sports federations – and corruption scandals. In a big read, we look at what’s gone wrong and what needs to change.
Most international sports federations, including world football’s governing body FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (whose respective presidents are pictured), are based in Switzerland. It’s striking how many of their senior executives are plagued by scandals.
“Sports organisations advocate positive moral values. People who have broken the law, especially involving bribery or fraud, should not be allowed to hold office in them,” says Carlo Sommaruga, a senator for Geneva.
Until six years ago private-sector bribery – including corruption at sports federations – was not illegal in Switzerland. “The rules of an association stipulated that a candidate may not offer a benefit or buy someone’s vote, but if a member actually did that, it was just a disciplinary breach and not a criminal offence,” explains lawyer Yvan Henzer.
It was precisely scandals like this at FIFA during the reign of its Swiss president Sepp Blatter (1998-2015) that drove Sommaruga to file a parliamentary initiative in 2010. This called for private-sector corruption cases to be investigated on a mandatory basis, without a complainant having to come forward, as was already the case with public-sector corruption.
The amendment came into effect in July 2016, Sommaruga recalls. “Both active and passive bribery in the private sector now trigger a criminal investigation ex officio,” he says. “The public prosecutor has a legal mandate to look into these matters.”
Yet Sommaruga says he is “not convinced that public prosecutors are doing all they can to fight corruption within these federations”. The reason, he thinks, is that these cases have no immediate impact on the local economy. “If FIFA slips envelopes to delegates from certain countries to influence their votes in favour of another country, there’s no financial or social impact in Switzerland. On the other hand, it may have an impact on Switzerland’s image.”
Mark Pieth, a former professor of criminal law at the University of Basel and an expert on anti-corruption work, doubts whether it will really hurt the country’s image in the long term. “We’ve had to deal with so many embarrassing situations in the past: accepting money from dictators, Nazi gold, or, at present, turning a blind eye to the trade in natural resources. Nothing has ever slowed us down.”
More
Today is Chalandamarz, the day when processions in eastern Switzerland chase winter out of the villages.
In the Romansh language spoken in canton Graubünden, “Chalandamarz” means “the beginning of March”. In eastern Swiss valleys March 1 means a lot of noise in the villages. Schoolchildren and teens walk with bells and whips through the streets and around every fountain. They traditionally wear red pointed caps and blue peasant blouses and sing spring songs – as loudly as possible.
In some communities only the boys are allowed to shout out the winter, while in others a straw man is burnt. In some places the custom resembles a carnival procession. In the town of Ftan the boys dress in costumes and chase the girls with inflated pig bladders.
After the bell procession, the Chalandamarz Ball takes place in each village, traditionally prepared by the women and girls. Young and old take part and celebrate the coming spring.
If it’s bizarre Swiss customs you’re after, check out this collection.
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
