Brasília lacks a closer look at sport, says COB president

Brazil’s record for medals at the Tokyo Olympics contrasts with the drop in state investment in Brazilian sports since the Rio de Janeiro Games-2016.

In the scenario of sports policy, important provisions, such as the General Sports Law and the National Sports System, are stuck in Congress. In government, the National Sports Plan, provided for in law since 1988, has not yet come out of the paper.

“We need a closer look at sport, which is not just sport [de rendimento], it’s sport as education and health”, he tells the leaf Paulo Wanderley, president of the COB (Olympic Committee of Brazil).

Wanderley claims that he has not yet heard of plans for the area from the possible candidates for the 2022 election. He understands that it would be good to have a ministry again, but he avoids criticizing the work of the current Department of Sport.

With a mandate until 2024, the year of the Paris Games, he assures: “We won’t have a lower result than the one in Tokyo. You can write and charge me later.”

What is the balance of Brazil’s participation in Tokyo? In general terms, it was good, at an atypical moment for everyone. We expected better results from beach volleyball and judo. We had good performances from modalities that entered [surfe e skate], which helped with the medals table, no doubt. In addition to boxing, a sport that is consolidating. We meet expectations.

The Northeast had an unprecedented role in Tokyo, but many athletes need to leave the region to have access to high-level sports equipment. Why is this happening and what is the COB’s responsibility? decentralization [do eixo Sul/Sudeste] it is within our policy, proof of this was the Brasil Olímpico Award in Aracaju [SE]. We are going to have an Olympic congress in Salvador [BA]. But it’s always been that way, athletes migrate. The Northeast and Midwest come to the South and Southeast. Brazil is going to Europe, isn’t it? This is a system, structural issues. We are attentive and with this vision of decentralization. This will be fixed.

What are the concrete plans? Confederations and federations execute it. What we try to evolve is in the construction of thought. Our part is the selections, then we can direct to our Olympic center here in Barra [da Tijuca, no Rio de Janeiro].

How is the relationship with the CBF, after the problem with the uniforms at the Games? When I arrived at the committee, at the end of 2017, there was an estrangement. I approached, I was very well received. The thing took a scratch from the electoral process [de 2020]. And, in Tokyo, at the awards ceremony, there was this wear due to the athletes not wearing our sponsor’s uniforms. That was our rule, it was really stressful. We didn’t identify where the determination came from, but all that was covered up by the athletes’ victory.

What is the impact of the pandemic on the COB? With Mission Europe [período de treinos no exterior] around R$14 million were spent. With [auxílios financeiros para] the confederations, another R$ 14 million. All divided between 2020 and 2021. This was possible because we managed to have savings, a restricted budget, which we still have, for this type of action.

​How did the relegation of the Ministry of Sports to secretariat, almost three years ago, affect the COB? Leaving a ministry and entering a secretariat was not well regarded in the sports community, even for reasons of representation. It’s different for you to have a ministry. I didn’t say it’s worse or better; different. We don’t have any kind of dependency on the secretariat. They have their regulations, the laws, we comply, we are accountable. We have a positive management relationship. Now, yes, we would like to have a Ministry of Sports.

In this sense, is next year’s election important for the COB? I have yet to hear a plan for the sport from any of the current presidential hopefuls. None. Maybe it’s too soon for them, anyway… But I really hope to hear from the candidates what their thoughts on the sport are. That’s what I have to say about the election.

In Congress, the General Sports Law and the National Sports System are stuck. In government, the National Sports Plan, provided for in law since 1998, has never left the paper. Is the sport overlooked in Brasília? It’s true, this is really stuck. Even closer to an election year, these agendas, which are delayed, tend to remain in the sixth session. It is difficult for you to motivate parliamentarians. We need a national sports system, we need to give names and functions to each of our bodies: what does the Secretariat [de Esporte] should do, what the COB should do, who will lead the educational sport. That is, to sectorize and delimit the actions and powers of each one, to organize. What’s needed is a closer look at sport, which is not just sport [de rendimento], is sport as education and health.

Isn’t it also COB’s responsibility to make this dialogue with Brasília? It belongs to the sports society as a whole. From the confederations, from the COB, from the Paralympic Committee, from the clubs… When we are called, we answer all the invitations. Let’s wait.

Has the sport been left aside by the public authorities? I have only had good results. Sorry for the lack of modesty. In the 2019 Pan, we had the best result so far. In the Olympics, the best result so far. At the Youth Games in Cali, the best result so far [foi a primeira edição do evento pan-americano]. I’m spoiled, that’s the truth.

After Rio-2016, state investment in sports fell by R$350 million. It’s possible keep the sports results? The downward trend is natural. Regarding the COB, we have resources that come from the federal law, from lotteries, which serve us. But in high performance sport, which is what we do here, the more money you have and the more you evolve, the more technology you need, the more exchange you need. This is a constant that only increases. And a small detail: we receive in reais and pay in euros, dollars. We are far from everything, from Europe, from Asia, everything is much more expensive for us.

In this scenario, will it be possible to repeat, in Paris-2024, the result of Tokyo? We’re not going to have any lower result than Tokyo. You can write and charge me later.

What does the condemnation of Carlos Arthur Nuzman, former president of the COB, to whom you were vice, represent for Brazilian sport? First, I was unanimously elected. It was an unrelated political situation. [a ele] in absolutely nothing. He was convicted, and that’s it. It’s a past fact, it has no consequences [para o esporte]. Is it regrettable? Yes. It was a president who brought the South American Games to the country, brought the Pan, the Olympic Games and revolutionized national sport.

Andrew Parsons was recently re-elected chairman of the International Paralympic Committee. In 2020, he accused him of blackmail in the COB election… It was a momentary situation, he expressed his opinion, without foundation. I talked to him about it. He was unanimously re-elected. Congratulations.

In Tokyo, there were no punishments for political demonstrations, something unthinkable in other times. After Black Lives Matter, do we experience a change in the relationship between sport and society and politics? The themes are transversal, there is no longer a medical theme, a theme of agriculture, of sport. Everything interacts, everything conflicts. There are themes that you cannot say “I have nothing to do with this”. Everyone has to do with everything.

So are politics and sport mixed up? Look, they’re in the same space, now mix… I don’t think so. There’s the sports policy, which I really like.