Rodríguez Uribes: “Thanks to the collective effort and the Government of Spain, Spanish sport is experiencing its best moment since Barcelona’92”

• After an unprecedented six-year investment in sport, the CSD looks to the future with a commitment to complete the transformation of the sector.

Madrid, 31 December 2024.- The Higher Sports Council (CSD), a body attached to the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training and Sports, closes the year 2024 with a balance marked by the commitment to sports excellence, sustainability, innovation, equal opportunities and rights. These are the main areas of action of the CSD since 2018, when the Government decided to promote Spanish sport.

This time, in fact, is marked by unprecedented economic investment. In the 2018-2024 period, the CSD had the highest budget in its history – 1.8 billion euros, 63% more than in the previous six-year period – and, according to Pedro Sánchez, in the next six years the resources will rise above 2 billion euros.

“Not only does the economic effort show that the Spanish Government believes in the transformative power of sport. Also the public policies that we are deploying to consolidate sport as a right of all citizens and as a backbone of society. These have been two of the pillars that have guided our action in the year that ends today,” said the president of the CSD, José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes.

With him at the head of the agency, the CSD has promoted regulatory reforms throughout 2024, has strengthened support for high-level sport, has promoted sustainable sports tourism, has contributed to the improvement of sports facilities throughout the territory and has intensified the international projection of Spain, among other initiatives.

One of the last milestones has been the approval by the Council of Ministers of the “National strategy to promote sport against sedentary lifestyle and physical inactivity”, to whose development during the period 2025-2030 the CSD will allocate 87 million euros to consolidate sport as a right of all citizens. The purpose is that being physically active is the norm in Spain and not extraordinary behavior. To this end, the Government will provide the necessary tools and means so that the entire Spanish population has better access to the practice of physical and sports activity of quality and safety.

The firm commitment to the improvement of sports facilities, intensified in 2024 through different lines of action, is already contributing to this objective.

“Since the CSD, we have assumed the firm commitment to modernize sports facilities throughout the territory, aware that sport is an engine of social cohesion, economic development, territorial structuring and promotion of healthy habits. Our commitment includes both the High Performance and Sports Technification Centers and those facilities of public and private ownership that contribute to the development of the base sport”, explained Rodríguez Uribes.

The High Performance Centers of Madrid, León and Sierra Nevada, all owned by the CSD, are immersed in the greatest process of modernization in its history. The amount of the tender for these works is close to EUR 27 million.

For its part, the Network of Technification Centers existing in Spain is benefiting from the territorial distribution of 75 million euros within the Energy 2.0 Plan. Thanks to this project, the CSD is supporting the renovation of at least 40 centers, in which a reduction in primary energy demand of at least 30 percent will be achieved.

In addition, the CSD has granted aid of EUR 27.5 million to entities owning sports facilities for modernisation works to host international sporting events. Also from the European funds of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, grants of EUR 34.9 million have been granted to public entities with infrastructure for the promotion of sustainable sports tourism.

“We believe that, as a whole, these initiatives favour high-level athletes and citizens by promoting sports in optimal conditions and reinforcing the positive impact of sport on society. In this line, in 2025 we will continue to transform sport so that it is a fundamental pillar of the development of our country.We must ensure that Spanish athletes have state-of-the-art infrastructures that not only boost their performance, but also consolidate Spain as an international benchmark in the organization of first-class sports competitions,” added Rodríguez Uribes.

The suitability of our country to host major events has once again been demonstrated this year during the celebration of the Copa del America de Vela, La Vuelta Bicista a España, the Grand Prix of MotoGP and Formula 1, the FIA MotorSport Games, the Davis Cup Finals and the Billie Jean King Cup, the Finals of the World Series of triathlon or the pre-Olympic tournaments of basketball and handball, to name a few.

In addition, in 2024 some candidates have been successful, the most outstanding being that of the World Cup that Spain will organize in 2030 along with Morocco and Portugal. “It will be the best World Cup in history at the sports and organizational level”, said the president of the CSD, who also said that “this event will contribute to social cohesion, unity, the development of the sports industry and collective pride”.

Team Spain, the matrix project for the coming years

José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes was particularly proud of the performance of Spanish sportsmen and women at the Paris Games. Both the Olympic delegation and the Paralympic delegation improved their benefits with respect to Tokyo 2020 by attending to the number of participants and medallists, which in both cases was significantly higher.

“In part, that has been thanks to the launch of Team Spain, a new preparation program promoted by the CSD, which between 2022 and 2024 has been endowed with 50 million euros and which has allowed to meet the needs of each athlete individually. We will turn this program into the CSD’s parent project for the coming years, including a new area of work. The detection of talent will guarantee a successful future for the Spanish sport”, said Rodríguez Uribes.

The president of the CSD has also conveyed his gratitude “to all the sportsmen and women who have dismissed their sports career this year”, such as tennis players Rafael Nadal and Garbiñe Muguruza, footballers Jesús Navas, Virginia Torrecilla and Andrés Iniesta, basketball players Sergio Rodríguez and Rudy Fernández, triathlete Javier Gómez Noya, swimmer Jessica Vall or athlete Álvaro Martín, to name a few.

“Spanish sport is at its best thanks to a collective effort, of which families, clubs, federations and the public and private sectors participate, but it is undeniable that everything comes from the individual desire of each athlete and each coach to overcome and to place not only our flag but also the values that identify us as a country at the top,” said Rodríguez Uribes.

Precisely, Spain has placed itself as an international reference in the recognition of athletes with disabilities by equating for the first time the prizes received by medallists in the Olympic and Paralympic Games. “It is a fair measure,” said the president of the CSD, “which corrects an historical inequality.” “Same merits, same recognition. This government is clear about this,” he said.

Policies of equality in sport

To redouble its commitment to a fairer and more equitable society, the CSD has implemented new measures that are allowing Spanish sport to consolidate equality as a fundamental pillar.

The CSD has signed an agreement with the Government Delegation against Gender Violence to make sport a means of social awareness and a key element in the recovery and treatment of victims. In addition, the agency has updated the protocol of action against violence in the High Performance Centers, dating from 2020 and which will be presented publicly in the first quarter of 2025, to ensure prevention, detection and action in possible cases of violence, harassment and abuse, expanding it to any type of violence, including sexual, psychological, physical abuse, negligence and abuse of authority, as well as grooming or bullying.

On the other hand, the CSD has approved the structure and deadline for the presentation of the annual reports on equality between women and men of the Spanish sports federations and professional leagues, as well as its conciliation and co-responsibility plans, while consolidating the aid for women sportsmen and the professionalization of women’s competitions, with grants to the soccer and basketball leagues and La Vuelta Bicista, among others.

“De cara a 2025, estas políticas seguirán siendo prioritarias para el CSD. We must continue to make progress in gender equality and in the professionalisation of women’s sport. The CSD will reaffirm its commitment to a sport that reflects the values of equality and diversity at all levels,” said the Secretary of State for Sport.

Regarding the fight against hate speech in sport, it is worth mentioning the close collaboration between the CSD and the Council of Europe to elaborate the future Strategy and Action Plan 2024-2026. In addition, Spain will chair the working group for the “Fight against hate speech in sport” created by the European Commission.

In recent months, the CSD has also made significant progress in the process of reviewing the regulatory framework, which began with the adoption in December 2022 of the new Sports Law. The majority support of the parliamentary groups made it possible to update the text that had been in force since 1990.

The CSD has begun the processing of the Royal Decrees of Compulsory Sports Insurance, on Sanctioning and Disciplinary Regime and on Sports Entities, whose approval is scheduled in 2025 along with the Royal Decree that will regulate for the first time the presence in the quinella of matches of women's competitions.

In addition, the new Code of Good Governance that sports federations and professional leagues must apply for being entities of public interest is already a reality. The document is inspired by the highest standards of transparency and good governance and promotes exemplarity, prudence in investments and expenditures, equal treatment and participation, good faith in the use of legal instruments and regulatory compliance.

Mention should also be made of the constitution within the Committee on Education, Vocational Training and Sports of the Congress of Deputies of the Sub-Commission on the Status of Sportsmen. This framework will deal with issues related to the rights and duties of athletes, their labour and fiscal regulation, their incorporation into employment policies or the protection of their health.

Precisely, another of the objectives of the CSD has been the strengthening of the High Level Athlete Care Program (PROAD), in which annually it invests one million euros for accompaniment in the dual race. Since 2009, this program has facilitated the direct employment of more than 1,600 athletes.

PROAD also provides comprehensive care. In fact, it has been a tool to support the athletes of the High Performance Centers of Madrid, León and Sierra Nevada affected by the DANA.

Grants for the DANA

Faced with this tragedy, the Government of Spain has so far deployed two aid lines for the rehabilitation of affected sports facilities, depending on their ownership.

On the one hand, according to Royal Decree-Law 6/2024, the Government of Spain will contribute through aid to local entities to the repair, restitution or reconstruction of infrastructures, equipment or facilities and services of municipal, provincial or insular ownership.

In addition, through a grant of up to EUR 2 million from the CSD budget, it will help private sports entities that appear in the registers of the state or regional level. Mainly, clubs and territorial federations that own infrastructures, equipment or sports facilities located in one of the 78 municipalities included in the annex of Royal Decree-Law 6/2024. The latter aid may reach a maximum of 100,000 euros for each sports entity and will cover the costs of the repair, reconstruction or restitution works that must be carried out between 28 October 2024 and 31 December 2025 as a result of the damage caused by DANA.

“Sport is going to occupy a central place in the recovery process of this tragedy, because of the obvious benefits for the physical and mental health of the people affected. Sport and physical activity will be two allies of boys and girls in their return to normality,” said Rodríguez Uribes.

“The Government will continue to bet on the transformative power of sport”

Together, all the measures presented underline the interest of the Government of Spain in continuing to promote sport for its transformative potential. “The path taken in this six-year period leaves us a clear roadmap to continue betting on sports excellence, sustainability, innovation, equal opportunities and rights in the sports field,” said the president of the CSD.

In the coming months, the agency will influence the international projection of our country through sport, will promote digitization projects that will facilitate access to cutting-edge technologies for the training and recovery of athletes, as well as promoting the ecological transition in sports infrastructures. All of this, within the framework of a strategic plan with which the CSD will reaffirm its commitment to consolidate sport as a right of all citizens and a backbone of Spanish society. “Because, in short, sport is a right, it is an industry that creates employment and wealth and a set of values that make us better,” concluded Rodríguez Uribes.