High performance
The Podium Grant
On 13 September 2012, President Dilma Rousseff, together with the Minister of Sport launched the Brazil Medals Plan. The plan has the aim of increasing investments in Brazilian sport, focusing on the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
One of the main initiatives of the Brazil Medals Plan is the implementation of the Podium Grant, which was established at the scope of the Podium Athlete Programme by Law No 12,395, from 16 March 2011. The initiative will be one of the most important legacies for high performance athletes, who compete for Brazil in important national and international tournaments. The Podium Grant is a new category of the Athlete Grant Programme and the awards vary between R$ 5 thousand and R$15 thousand. In 2013, the Podium grant has already allocated R$ 17 million to athletes.
» For more information on the Podium Grant, please click on this link
Training Centres
The Brazil Medals Plan was launched on 13 September 2012 (32 days after the end of the London Olympics) by President Dilma Rousseff and the Minister of Sport Aldo Rebelo. The plan brought with it a new level of investment for sport, aimed at the preparation of our Olympic and Paralympic athletes for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
The aim of the Brazil Medals Plan is for Brazil to finish the 2016 Olympic Games in one of the top ten positions for the first time ever. For the Paralympic Games the target is bolder, as the aim is for Brazil to finish in the top five positions, something never achieved before.
Therefore, one of the pillars of the Brazil Medals Plan is the programme which is building, refurbishing and operating 21 training centres for Olympic sports, as well as a training centre for 14 Paralympic sports. Between 2013 and 2016, the Brazil Medals Plan will invest R$ 1 billion in sport. From this total, around R$ 310 million will be allocated to training centres.
It is worth mentioning that due to the level of complexity of some training centres, the time required to build them and the processes that need to be followed at the scope of public administration for the release of funds, some TCs will only be delivered in 2015. Indeed, some of them will only be delivered in 2016, thus, they will not be used to train athletes for the 2016 Games. In these cases, these centres will be in full operation for the cycle aimed at the 2020 Games in Tokyo and will be left behind as a great legacy of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Currently, nine training centres are in operation in the following sports:
- Boxing – located in São Paulo
- Canoeing – located in São Paulo
- Women’s football – located in São Paulo
- Wrestling – located in Rio de Janeiro
- Modern pentathlon – located in Rio de Janeiro
- Taekwondo – located in Rio de Janeiro
- Shooting – located in Rio de Janeiro
- Volleyball – located in Saquarema (state of Rio de Janeiro)
- Beach volleyball – located in Saquarema (state of Rio de Janeiro)
Another eight training centres are currently being built with resources from the Ministry of Sport. They are:
- Judo
Pan American Judo Centre – Lauro de Freitas (state of Bahia)
Approved value for transfer by the Ministry of Sport: R$ 27,554,230.22 - Cycling - BMX
Training Centre in Londrina (state of Paraná)
Approved value for transfer by the Ministry of Sport: R$ 1,448,636.69 - Athletics
National Training Centre – Cascavel (state of Paraná)
Approved value for transfer by the Ministry of Sport: R$ 18,750,000.00 - Tennis
Training Centre in Florianopolis (state of Santa Catarina) - indoor tennis courts - Santa Catarina Federal University (UFSC)
Approved value for transfer by the Ministry of Sport: R$ 2,842,069.09 - Equestrian
Equestrian Excellence Centre – Barretos (state of São Paulo)
Approved value for transfer by the Ministry of Sport: R$ 8,519,195.73 - Handball
Brazilian Handball Development Centre – São Bernado do Campo (state of São Paulo)
Approved value for transfer by the Ministry of Sport: R$ 14,549,367.81 - Paralympic Sports
Brazilian Paralympic Training Centre – São Paulo (state of São Paulo)
Approved value for transfer by the Ministry of Sport: R$ 140,000,000.00
* The Brazilian Paralympic Training Centre will cater for athletes of the following sports: Athletics, wheelchair basketball, bowls, swimming, wheelchair fencing, 5-a-side football, 7-a-side football, goalball, powerlifting, judo, wheelchair rugby, wheelchair tennis, table tennis and sitting volleyball.
Sport development
One of the most important legacies of the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games refers to the effect that these events will have on the development of sport in Brazil. Since 2010, through partnership agreements signed with sport confederations, clubs and other organisations, the Ministry of Sport has been investing significant resources in the area. These resources are being used in the procurement of world class equipment, hiring of multidisciplinary teams, renovation of sports facilities and in projects aimed at young athletes, who dream of a promising future. The agreements signed by the Ministry of Sport already add up to around R$ 300 million, which will increase considerably until the 2016 Games.
The year after Rio de Janeiro was chosen as host city of the 2016 Games (2010), a plan focusing on Olympic sports was drafted, aimed at allocating the resources mentioned above to 26 institutions.
For example, the Brazilian Paralympic Committee signed a R$ 39 million agreement for preparing the permanent squads from 16 sports. Basketball and volleyball come next, with R$ 24 million each.
The Brazilian Basketball Confederation (CBB) and the National Basketball League (LNB) submitted proposals aimed at the training of their main squads and under-19 athletes. The purchase of equipment to be used by 19 clubs in 16 different municipalities - which host national championship matches - has also been included, as well as for another ten towns throughout the country: two in the south region, two in the southeast, two in the central-west, one in the north and three in the northeast.
The resources allocated to the Brazilian Volleyball Confederation (CBV) will be used for training squads at the junior and professional level, in addition to the staging of Brazilian championships. In this case, it covers the indoor and beach variety of the sport.
Judo is a very traditional sport in Brazil. Indeed, the country has won several Olympic medals in the sport. As a result, R$ 10 million have been allocated to judo, to be used in the second development stage of the sport in the states, as well as training junior and children teams, and hiring coaches to work with the main national squad.
Even confederations that will make their Olympic debut at the 2016 Rio Games, as is the case with golf and rugby, have also had projects approved. Approximately R$ 3.1 million will be allocated to golf, while R$ 8.4 million will be invested in rugby. The resources will be used for hiring technical staff, assembling national squads – offering support to athletes – and purchasing materials.
Resources are also being allocated to clubs that develop athletes. For example, the Pinheiros club in São Paulo, will receive around R$ 6.5 million to invest in modernising their multi-purpose gymnasium and Olympic standard pool, as well as for purchasing equipment for 15 Olympic sports. These facilities may be used by high performance athletes – and those still being developed - in swimming, volleyball and handball. Another example of such investments is the Grêmio Náutico União in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, which will have around R$ 4 million allocated to it to be invested in judo, rowing, gymnastics and fencing.
However, there are also resources for smaller projects, such as the one submitted by the Rio de Janeiro Table Tennis Federation for the purchase of equipment and to be invested in Olympic and Paralympic athletes – R$ 150 thousand -.
The 26 institutions that had projects approved are: Brazilian Basketball Confederation(CBB), National Basketball League (LNB), Brazilian Volleyball Confederation (CBV), Brazilian Handball Confederation (CBHb), Brazilian Judo Confederation (CBJ), Brazilian Associated Wrestling Confederation (CBLA), Brazilian Confederation of Water Sports (CBDN), Brazilian Equestrian Confederation (CBH), Brazilian Confederation of Snow Sports (CBDN), Brazilian Fencing Confederation (CBE), Brazilian Gymnastics Confederation (CBGin), Brazilian Golf Confederation (CBG), Brazilian Rugby Confederation (CBRu), Brazilian Modern Pentathlon Confederation (CBPM), Brazilian Table Tennis Confederation(CBTM), Brazilian Shooting Confederation(CBTE), Brazilian Archery Confederation (CBTA), Rio de Janeiro Table Tennis Federation (FTMRJ), Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB), Pinheiros Sport Club (SP), Tijuca Tennis Club (RJ), Minas Tennis Club (MG), Sogipa (RS), Grêmio Náutico União (RS), UniLaSale (RS) and Sesi-SC.
