Opinion – Various authors: Sport as a State policy

_{VARIOUS AUTHORS (names at the end of the text)}

Brazilian sport was in the spotlight worldwide and came into prominence in national politics between 2007 and 2016, when the country hosted the Pan American Games (2007), the Military World Games (2011), the Football World Cup (2014) and the Olympics and Paralympics (2016). However, despite being an area of ​​relevance for the social development of the country, structuring and lasting public policies were not consolidated for the sector that would allow the benefits of sport to reach the entire population.

A portrait of this is presented by data collected in 2021 by the Instituto de Pesquisa Inteligencia Esportiva, at the Federal University of Paraná (Ipie/UFPR). Based on the survey “Sport Management in States and Municipalities (Geem)”, the institute’s researchers identified that among 1,891 municipalities in 16 states in the country, 67% of them do not have any document that guides municipal sports policies; more than 60% do not have municipal sports councils; 54% do not develop sports talent detection actions.

The IBGE data also show that 62% of the Brazilian population is physically inactive and, when a magnifying glass is placed on gender, poor population and race, such inactivity exceeds 75%. This is a reflection of the little importance given to the sector in terms of public policies and contributes to the fact that the practice of sports is not available to most Brazilians.

The lack of articulation between the levels of sports practice and the actions of state and non-state actors contributes to the above results. This is due to the absence of a National Sports System that integrates and coordinates, in an efficient and rational way, the actions for the sector. In the current scenario, sports actions and projects from different governmental and private entities overlap, generating redundancies on certain fronts, while so many others remain unattended.

It is therefore necessary that each federative entity and the sports administration institutions have their role and responsibilities well defined in the legal and practical context and that there are coordinated actions between the three spheres of government. Without them, the introduction to sport and physical activity does not dialogue with the base, which does not dialogue with training, which does not dialogue with sports excellence, leaving the population unassisted of policies for sport in its interface with education and health.

It is in this dysfunctional scenario that the discussion and approval of a true and effective National Sports System, structured and financed by a national fund for the sector, provided for in the scope of bill 68/2017 that is being processed in the Senate, is so relevant in this context. time.

The project, which intends to establish the General Sports Law in the country, also reaffirms the importance of the National Sports Plan (PND) as a planning element, a measure that should have been adopted 24 years ago, but which is currently in the Chamber of Deputies. of Deputies. With the PND, goals and actions for the sport will be established and carried out by public and private entities in the sector within a period of up to ten years. It would be the pillar for building a state policy for sport, not government.

The System, the Fund and the Plan have as their fundamental principles the democratization of access to sport in the country. Planning, articulating and organizing actions for the sector is intended, among other points, to universalize the practice of sports as a means of social inclusion; the structuring of the National Training Network; the expansion of sports programs for people with disabilities; the promotion of research and maintenance of a permanent database; the definition of focused and articulated policies from the beginning of training and specialization to sports excellence.

Based on this understanding, we must continue advancing in the debate on the National Sports System and commit our efforts together with senators and deputies for the approval of this very important law for Brazilian sports.

_{Fernando Mezzadri}

Professor at Ipie/UFPR

Fernando Starepravo

Professor at Geppol/UEM (Study and Research Group on Sports and Leisure Policies / State University of Maringá)

Rafael Lane

Executive Director of Athletes for Brazil

William Boudakian

​Executive Director of the Barrichello/Rems Institute

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