The CSD will have 251 million budget in 2021, the largest amount of the century for Spanish sport

• The President of the Council, Irene Lozano, explains in the Congress that the total figure is 95% higher than that of the last Olympic year, 2016, if you count the 9.4 million dedicated to the Spanish Agency for Health Protection in Sport (AEPSAD)
• The endowment to sports federations amounts to 66.8 million euros, (12.7 million euros more than this year), an amount to which must be added 17 million derived from the income from the sale of audiovisual rights in compliance with Royal Decree-Law 5/2015
• The programmes of Women and Sport and Inclusive Sport in the federations double their allocation with an increase of 112% and the social aid to women sportsmen experiences an increase of 73%. The appropriations for the COE and the CPE are growing
• For the Government, sport is one of the ten motor levers that shape the future of our country and will therefore allocate about 50 mill to this sector. EUR from funds from the EU Economic Recovery Plan

Madrid, November 06, 2020. The president of the Higher Sports Council (CSD), Irene Lozano, has detailed today, in her appearance before the Committee on Culture and Sport of the Congress of Deputies, the economic resources destined for Spanish sport within the Draft Law of General Budgets of the State approved by the Council of Ministers.

According to the Secretary of State for Sport, the CSD will have a total allocation of 251,179.97 million euros, to which will be added 9.4 for the Spanish Agency for Health Protection in Sport (AEPSAD), 95% more than the budget of 2016, last Olympic year.

“Since the Barcelona 92 Olympic Games, such a firm and solid commitment to the sports sector has never been made. We are dealing with some historical data, the highest figure of this century dedicated to Spanish sport. For this Government, sport is a public good, an essential tool for the development of our society, something that can be seen not only with the figures of these budgets, but also with the role and the preminent position in which the Government has placed sport throughout the pandemic,” said Lozano.

The CSD’s operational budget for 2021 will be EUR 174.3 million. This represents 63.6 million more than in 2020, a 57% increase. With respect to the Olympic year of 2016, the increase is 85 million euros, 95% more.

More resources for sports federations and the COE

The sports federations will receive in 2021 a total of 66.8 million euros, 12.7 million euros more than this year, which means an increase of 23.5%.

To this allocation must be added the transfers made in compliance with Royal Decree-Law 5/2015 derived from the revenues from the sale of audiovisual rights, the breakdown of which is as follows: EUR 11 million for social security contributions for high-level sportsmen and women, EUR 5 million for aid for sportsmen and women representing Spain in international competitions and EUR 2 million for different types of aid.

There was a 53% increase in support for sportspeople for the results obtained, and a 42% increase in the item for operating expenses and activities of the High Performance and Technification Centers. In addition, the allocation for the National Programme of Sports Technification and Sports Promotion is increased by 33% and the transfer for sports facilities and equipment is doubled.

As a novelty, within the transfers to the sports federations, a line is incorporated in these accounts for the production of sports broadcasts in audiovisual formats with 3 million euros and another for the development of international programmes of cooperation and preparation of sportspeople and technicians with 700 thousand euros.

The allocation to the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) in 2021, a year turned into an Olympic, grows by 3.8 million, which translates into a total of 4.7 million, an increase of 441%. The Spanish Paralympic Committee (CPE) increased by 375% to 1.9 million, with a rise of 1.5 million.

This year, the CSD has contributed 62% of the resources of the ADO Plan. In his appearance today, Irene Lozano assured that “no Spanish sportsman will be left without his ADO Scholarship. We will provide whatever is necessary to cover each and every support so that our athletes can concentrate solely on their training and competitions. We want to give them certainty and peace of mind,” he added.

Bet on Women’s and Inclusive Sport

The accounts presented double the current budget for Women’s and Inclusive Sport. The total allocation reaches 2.5 million for projects of the federations related to Women and Sport and Inclusive Sport. It is an increase of 112%, to which we must add 73% growth in social aid for women sportsmen.

In addition, this draft budget includes two items that were not specifically included in the previous budget. These are transfers to federations for school-age sports activity and for trips to international school and university competitions, each with one and a half million.

As far as transfers to the Autonomous Communities are concerned, the planned allocation increases by 30% and reaches 14.6 million euros. For the improvement of their sports facilities, the municipalities and provinces will see increased CSD aid by 876%, going from 517,000 euros to 5 million.

A new allocation is established to the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces to promote sports programs to reduce inequality within the framework of the 2030 Agenda for which it will have half a million euros.

In addition, the draft budgets have created new provisions such as the development of physical activity programs to generate healthy habits and the promotion of physical exercise among the population.

In relation to the High Performance Sports Centers (CAR), the Madrid Sports Center will increase its budget by 9.5%, reaching 8.5 mill. of euros and the CAR of Sant Cugat will receive 4 million, 60% more than last year. In addition, the CAR of León amounts to 9.9 million euros, with a growth of 18% and that of Sierra Nevada grows 10% reaching 2.8 million.

AEPSAD

The budget allocated to the Spanish Agency for Health Protection in Sport (AEPSAD) increases in these budgets to 9.4 million euros, 700,000 euros more than last year. This increase meets the demand for a greater number of anti-doping checks for Spanish sportspeople who will compete at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The Young Sport Foundation and the scientific support programmes for sport from universities and private entities are also being increased.

Within the EU Recovery Plan

Sport will be one of the levers of transformation of our country and it will be one of the ten tractor policies that will shape the future of our country. The European Union-led Recovery Plan will provide financial support to states for investments and reforms through the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism. The Government of Spain has decided that Spanish sport should participate in the funds derived from this powerful tool.

Of this commitment to sport, the 2021 budgets of the Higher Sports Council include 49.5 million from this European fund, an amount that, according to current estimates, will multiply in the coming years.

“Thanks to this European initiative from the Council we have designed a Recovery Plan for the Sports Sector that is structured in four objectives defined in four plans: a Digitalization Plan for the sports sector, a Plan for the Ecological Transition of sports facilities, a Plan to promote the Internationalization of the sports industry and the expansion of Spain abroad and the Plan for the dynamization of women’s sports”, said the president of the CSD.

The Digitization Plan has an allocation of 16.8 million euros, while the Ecological Transition Plan will have an allocation of 13.4 million euros. The Plan to promote the Internationalization of the sports industry and the expansion of Spain abroad, whose objectives are the development and internationalization of the sports industry and support for the Internationalization of Spanish sports, has an allocation of 7.5 million.

And finally, the Plan for the Revitalisation of Women’s Sport, which aims to promote women’s sport and promote the professionalisation of women’s football, will have an endowment for 2021 of 11.7 million euros

For the Secretary of State for Sport, “the objectives of this budget are to protect as much as possible the entire social fabric of sport so cruelly hit by the current crisis caused by COVID-19, promote the economic reactivation of the sector, promote the two great transformations that put us in a good situation in the future: digitalization and the ecological transition and a determined commitment to women’s sport”.

“In short, budgets that respond to an economic crisis, not with cuts, but increasing spending to protect a vital sector for Spain such as sports,” concluded Irene Lozano.