THE SIDELINES : E. German Sports Unit Cuts Back

East Germany’s sports association, which has produced some of the world’s best amateur athletes, said today that it will reduce its staff by half because of a drastic budget cut.

About 3,700 of its 6,000 employees will be fired by the end of the year, including several coaches who played key roles in East Germany’s success at the Olympics and various world championships. Before last year’s revolution that ousted the country’s Communist leaders, 10,500 people worked for the association, then run by the state.

The East German Ministry for Youth and Sports cut its budget by 33%, allocating $64 million next year.

There have been discussions about unifying the East and West German teams into a single team for international events.