The Secretary of State for Youth and Sports, João Paulo Correia, will request this Wednesday “an urgent meeting” with the provider Ana Jorge, after the announcement of the Santa Casa da Misericordia de Lisboa (SCML) about “cuts in support for sport” .
The Santa Casa da Misericordia de Lisboa has informed the federations that it is reviewing the sponsorship plan for sporting events, preparing to cut support for referrals.
– Joao Paulo Correia (@jpcorreia_sejd) August 16, 2023
In a series of messages published on the X social network, formerly Twitter, João Paulo Correia considers that this is a “worrying” decision, noting that it was announced less than a year before the Olympic and Paralympic Games, “causing greater impacts on the sector”.
The ruler thus admits “impacts” in the preparation of athletes.
Given the worrying decision of the SCML, I will request an urgent meeting with the Ombudsman this morning.
– Joao Paulo Correia (@jpcorreia_sejd) August 16, 2023
The sports federations were notified through letters signed by the provider Ana Jorge, who took office at SCML on May 2.
The justification for this cut has to do with “the current economic and social situation” that has raised “new social and economic demands on SCML in regards to supporting the most vulnerable populations.”
The president of the Portuguese Paralympic Committee, José Manuel Lourenço, was one of the recipients of Ana Jorge’s letters, and in statements to the TSFtogether with João Paulo Correia, the future “impact” of this decision not only “on the life of the Paralympic Committee”, but also “on the federations that are currently sponsored by the Santa Casa”.
“In the case of the Paralympic Committee, it is a reduction in what we have in funding, because sponsorships are something that is scarce, especially in our national reality and that is not a matter of the Paralympic Committee, it is a matter of practically everyone. sport – except for one modality or another”, explains José Manuel Lourenço, who laments “the lack of availability of the Portuguese business fabric for sponsorship”.
Even so, José Manuel Lourenço guarantees that the Olympic preparation of the athletes is not compromised -especially since “there is a program contract with the State, which is being fulfilled”-, preferring to avoid what he described as “alarm” situations.
“What I really wanted was to send a message that appreciates the sponsorship that has been given to sport and, in particular, to the Paralympic Committee and adapted sport. We know that there have been other actions of the Santa Casa games in support of adapted sports and, therefore, I prefer to assess rather than create some kind of alarm, “he underlines.
The president of the Portuguese Paralympic Committee interprets the announcement of the SCML as a way of “anticipating a possible problem” and as a preparation “for a possible lack of continuity of support.”
The president of the Portuguese Canoeing Federation, Victor Félix, who was also one of the recipients of the SCML letters, views the situation with “great concern”, warning that the measure could have an impact on the athletes’ Olympic preparation. , as well as in other competitions.
“As this is our only sponsorship with an economic return, [a decisão] will harm what will be our Olympic preparation, the preparation of our athletes, since the value guaranteed by the Santa Casa games, through this sponsorship of the Associação Portuguesa de Canoagem, not only allowed us to organize our national championships with more quality , as it allowed us to take more athletes to international participation, which is why we are very concerned about this type of measure,” he adds to TSF.
Victor Félix still highlights the fact that this is “a transversal measure” and does not hide the “concern” felt in relation to “their own financing of the sport, which could be the cause, since it depends very much on whether they are the social games and the online games”.
The president of the Portuguese Canoeing Federation thus requests the mediation of the Portuguese Government.
“The Government can establish bridges with the SCM, in the sense that there is some reversal of what this decision was. We are not talking about a very high value, therefore, I think that the Government should mediate in this decision of the SCML, so that the Olympic preparation is not affected”.
News updated at 11:02.
Source: TSF
