CSD calls for EUR 6 million for digitisation projects for the Milan Cortina 2026 and Los Angeles 2028 Games

• The Higher Council of Sports (CSD), a body attached to the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, makes available to Spanish sports federations EUR 6 million from NextBurnEU funds for innovation and digitisation projects.

• Initiatives will be funded with the aim of monitoring health and physical recovery, obtaining and analysing data for improving sports performance, developing training processes, and improving inclusion, accessibility and safety.

Madrid, March 10, 2025.- The Higher Council of Sports (CSD) has called for aid of 6 million euros to Spanish sports federations for the development of projects aimed at monitoring health and physical recovery, obtaining and analyzing data for the optimization of sports performance, developing training processes, as well as improving inclusion, accessibility and safety.

As part of the preparation for the Paralympic and Olympic Games at Milan – Cortina d’Ampezzo 2026 and Los Angeles 2028, the CSD has designed a new line of aid aimed at sports federations that aims to improve performance through digitisation, a fundamental axis of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.

These EUR 6 million from the NextCropEU Funds will be earmarked for the development of innovative projects to boost digital transformation in sports federations, with particular emphasis on technological innovation, advanced research and data analysis.

Of the EUR 6 million, 4 will be earmarked for investment in technologies and equipment, while the remaining 2 will be for current expenditure relating to specialised technical services.

Among the actions eligible for the development of talent through a competitive concurrence process, are health monitoring and physical recovery; data collection and analysis for improvement in sports performance; data collection and analysis for the development of training processes and sport technification in athletes, teams, technical structures and/or activities included in the programs Team Spain Elite and/or Team Spain Future digitalization.

These actions should be aimed at sports performance and the identification of talent, also enhancing the health and physical recovery of athletes.

Sport in the Recovery Plan

Spain is the only country in the European Union that has included sport as a tractor element in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, recognising the specific weight this sector has in the country.

It is not only an enormously enriching and personal well-being human activity; sport is also an important instrument of social cohesion, an effective vehicle for the transmission of values and a strong element of economic momentum.

With a budget of EUR 300 million from the European Funds, the dynamisation, restructuring and modernisation of the sport sector is being promoted, adapting it to new socio-economic realities through its digital transformation and adaptation to the ecological transition.

These 300 million are distributed as follows:

• 146.5 M€ for the ecological transition of sports facilities
• €77.8 M for a social plan
• €75.6 M to digitisation

The aim of this transformation process has also been to provide a new regulatory framework for the sector through a new Sport Act, in order to enhance it as an essential element in the maintenance of public health and in the promotion of gender equality.

The impetus of the sport sector is focused on the development of safe and sustainable infrastructures, the promotion of digital transformation of sports organisations, the promotion of research on physical activity as an element of health promotion, the promotion of applications for the organisation of major sporting events, the promotion of sports tourism and the improvement of the network of high-performance centres and sport technology.

Special attention is also paid to infrastructure in areas at risk of depopulation, to promoting healthy habits through sport and physical activity - improving the health of our citizens - and to the development of specific sectors promoting equality and inclusion in sport.

These measures focus on tackling the main challenges of sport in Spain and all of them have common objectives, such as: the creation of stable employment, the promotion of equality, the digitisation of the sector, the ecological transition through sustainable energy and structures, the collaboration with territorial administrations and the care of vulnerable or disadvantaged groups.