Brazil will invest an additional R$ 1 billion (US$ 494.9 million) in athlete training, facilities and coaching programs for Olympic and Paralympic Sports
BRASÍLIA (13 September 2012) – Brazil’s President Rousseff and Brazil’s Minister of Sport Aldo Rebelo today launched a new plan to enhance Brazil’s high performance sports for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Brasil Medalhas 2016 plan (Medals for Brazil 2016) aims to place Brazil among the top ten medal-winning countries at the 2016 Olympic Games and in the top five at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
"This plan will improve what we consider essential – the direct support to the athlete – through the Podium Grant and Coach Grant, among other initiatives. It will also offer support in sports infrastructure and technology through training centers," said President Dilma Rousseff. "It is fundamental that our country has high quality training centers. We will offer 22 training centers to support athletes and help them bring forward this ambition that every athlete has inside. It is also the ambition of 194 million Brazilians, expressed in you [athletes]," added President Rousseff, addressing the athletes present at the announcement ceremony at the Presidential Palace.
This Brasil Medalhas plan will allocate an additional R$ 1 billion (nearly US$ 495 million) in federal public investments dedicated to high performance sports; the investment will occur between 2013 and 2016. Two thirds of these funds will come from the federal government’s general budget and one third will come from investments by state-owned companies. These resources will be an addition to the Ministry’s existing budget allocations for high performance sports and also in addition to funding from the Sports Incentive Law and Agnelo/Piva Law, which allocate 2 percent of revenues from the national lottery to Olympic, Paralympic, school and university-related sports.
"The 2016 Olympics open our horizons and challenge us to improve our efforts to achieve more medals. The plan Brasil Medalhas represents a resource of R$ 1 billion over the next four years, already present and figured in the budget of 2013 to 2016, additional to the existing R$ 1.5 billion that was already intended for high performance sports," said Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo.
The Ministry of Sport will prioritize investments in Brazilian sports that have a higher chance of winning medals in the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. In particular, 21 Olympic sports and 15 Paralympic sports have been identified as the focus of this program. The plan is designed to help achieve concentrated and extensive improvements in sports performances that will in turn increase Brazil’s medal tally at the Olympics and Paralympics, both in sports where Brazil has already achieved success and in sports where Brazil has yet to earn a medal.
The selected Olympic sports are: open water swimming, athletics, basketball, boxing, canoeing, BMX cycling, women’s football, artistic gymnastics, equestrian, judo, wrestling, swimming, modern pentathlon, taekwondo, tennis, shooting, triathlon, sailing, volleyball and beach volleyball.
The Paralympic sports are: athletics, boccia, canoeing, cycling, wheelchair fencing, 5-a-side and 7-a-side football, goalball, weight lifting, equestrian, judo, swimming, rowing, table tennis and sitting volleyball.
Other sports will continue to be supported by the Ministry with resources allocated through traditional federal funding sources.
Athlete support
The Brasil Medalhas 2016 plan elaborates on Brazilian Law 12.395/2011, which establishes the key tools to increase the level of high performance sports in Brazil.
The Brasil Medalhas plan includes resources for sports equipment (up to R$ 20,000 [US $9,901] per athlete) and support for training and competitions in Brazil and abroad by paying costs related to air fares and per diems for athletes.
The pre-existing Athlete Grant Program (Bolsa-Atleta) in Brazil, which falls under Law 12.395/2011, established the Podium Athlete grant, and the Coach Grant, which allocate monthly grants, respectively, of up to R$ 15,000 (US$ 7,426) and up to R$ 10,000 (US$ 4,950). The Coach Grant supports coaches and other professionals in high performance sports categories. The beneficiaries of the Podium Athlete category are elite athletes ranked in the top 20 worldwide in their categories.
Additional Bolsa-Atleta categories (student, national, international and Olympic/Paralympic) will continue to be funded as part of the Ministry of Sport’s standard budget.
Training facilities
Another aspect of the Brasil Medalhas 2016 plan is the allocation of resources to construct, refurbish and operate 22 training centers, selected by the Olympic and Paralympic Committees, national confederations, clubs, states and municipalities. Twenty-one of these centers will be designated for Olympic sports and one for Paralympic sports, following recommendations made by the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB).
Support from state-owned companies
In total, eight state-owned companies are planning to offer their support to various high performance sports in Brazil. This support differs from traditional sponsorship, as most of these companies already sponsor several sports, in that it will focus on athlete and team preparations specific to the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The following state-owned companies are involved:
· Banco do Brasil: sailing, beach volleyball, volleyball and modern pentathlon
· Banco do Brasil and Correios (Brazilian Post and Telegraph Corporation): handball
· Banco do Nordeste: triathlon
· BNDES (Brazilian Development Bank): canoeing and equestrian
· Caixa Econômica Federal: athletics, BMX cycling, women’s football, gymnastics, wrestling, Paralympic sports and shooting
· Correios (Brazilian Post and Telegraph Corporation): swimming, open water swimming (aquatic marathon) and tennis
· Eletrobras: basketball
· Infraero and Petrobras: judo
· Petrobras: boxing and taekwondo
Integrated management
Resources will be administered jointly by Brazil’s Ministry of Sport, Olympic and Paralympic Committees, sports confederations and states. The Brasil Medalhas plan is one of several initiatives that will encourage joint and integrated management by Brazil’s sports organizations.
The Ministry of Sport, committees, confederations and public entities will draft a sport and investment plan for the allocation of funds under Brasil Medalhas; this plan is expected to be approved in December 2012. The formalization of funding agreements with confederations and public entities, as well as the list of athletes enrolled in the Podium Athlete category, is expected to be finalized in January 2013.
At the announcement ceremony today, President Dilma Rousseff also signed a decree creating the Management Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The structure, which works similarly to the Management Committee of the FIFA 2014 World Cup, will bring together the ministries involved in the organization of the Games, under the coordination of the Ministry of Sports.
For more information contact: katie.lowry@fleishman.com
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