The president of the Portuguese Olympic Committee (COP) said this Wednesday that he fears that the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa (SCML) will limit itself to cutting the funds allocated to various sports federations, less than a year from Paris 2024.
“I am not very aware of the magnitude of the cut we are talking about, but, except for a better opinion, we are talking, only and exclusively, about the sponsorships that the Santa Casa gaming department has had with some sports. federations, in a significant part federations with Olympic participation”, began by saying José Manuel Constantino, in statements to Lusa.
The sports federations and the COP itself were notified through letters signed by the provider Ana Jorge, who assumed her duties in the SCML on May 2.
It is, according to several of the letters to which Lusa had access, the revision of the “sponsorship plan drawn up for 2023”, also noting that the sponsorship, by the Santa Casa Games, for the most part, in addition to of current contracts is not guaranteed.
“On the one hand, I understand that the new management of SCML wants to reassess the criteria for supporting different entities, given the situation of deep crisis that was detected in the audits already carried out and due to the intervention of the Public Ministry regarding the investments made. in Brazil it seems perfectly natural and understandable to me that the new administration intends to look at the reality it is facing and wants to reassess it,” said Constantino.
However, the president of the federation warned that he would not have such a comprehensive attitude if the cuts were made only in the sports sector, in an amount that, according to José Manuel Constantino, is not relevant to the coffers of the SCML.
“I will no longer have such a positive opinion, if that vision is limited to half a dozen sports entities, with which the Santa Casa communication and marketing department establishes collaboration protocols. Because, if there is a problem that crosses all the expenses, it is not a derisory amount compared to what it provides to Jogos Santa Casa, which puts its economic balance at home ”, he highlighted.
Despite this threat, Constantino made himself available for an eventual meeting with the new SCML provider.
“We are going to wait with a certain serenity for the development of this process, expecting, naturally, to have a more sustained opinion, more well-founded than the one we are currently facing and whose consequences are ignored,” concluded the president of the COP. .
This morning, the Secretary of State for Youth and Sports, João Paulo Correia, announced the request for an urgent meeting with Ana Jorge, due to the announced cuts in SCML support for sport, less than a year before the Olympic Games and Paralympics in Paris. 2024.
The justification for this cut has to do with “the current economic and social situation”, which has raised “new social and economic demands on SCML in regards to supporting the most vulnerable populations”.
Ana Jorge is sure that these sports entities “will understand” the “difficult decision for the reasons stated”, without ruling out “a possible future reassessment of this situation if the assumptions change.”
On its website, SCML considers that “sport is decisive in the fight against exclusion and discrimination, as well as in the promotion of a more egalitarian, inclusive and just society. the engine of sport in Portugal, in a mission that lasts longer of 10 years”.
Among the entities supported by Jogos Santa Casa, according to the list published on its website, are the COP, the Portuguese Paralympic Committee, the Portuguese Sports Confederation, the equestrian, motorcycling, handball, athletics, canoeing, cycling, soccer, gymnastics, judo, swimming, skating, rowing, rugby, surfing, table tennis, triathlon, volleyball and sports for people with disabilities.
Source: TSF
