Allowance for athletes benefit a record 7,451 in 2023

Brazil’s Ministry of Sports released a new list Thursday (Sep. 28) with the names of 236 beneficiaries under the country’s Bolsa Atleta program in 2023. The new recipients have signed the agreement to receive the allowance and can now use the money for the next 12 months.

As a result, the 2023 grant benefits a record 7,451 athletes, now including the 7,215 from the previous list, published in August of this year. The number is the highest since the initiative began, back in 2005. In the 2022, 6,419 athletes were covered.

Sports Minister André Fufuca commented on the expansion of the program. “All our efforts are aimed at ensuring that athletes and para-athletes have the support of the Ministry of Sports and that together we can move forward and consolidate Brazil as a world sports power.”

According to the government, nearly 65 percent of the recipients are aged up to 23, which indicates a focus on the younger generation.

“The Bolsa Atleta is key in making Brazilian athletes able to focus on high-performance sport and enabling the new generation to achieve great results in a wide range of sports,” the minister said.

Values

The Ministry of Sports has budgeted a further BRL 120.5 million to fund the Bolsa Atleta program until the beginning of 2024.

So far, over BRL 78.7 million has been allocated for the payment of scholarships under six categories. Those in the Grassroots and Student Athlete categories receive a monthly benefit of BRL 370. The group classified as National receives BRL 925. Under International, the amount stands at BRL 1.85 thousand, and under Olympic and Paralympic BRL 3.1 thousand.

Also included is Podium, the initiative’s main category, offering a monthly BRL 5 thousand to BRL 15 thousand, the program’s ceiling. It includes high-performance athletes who are among the top 20 in their sport’s world ranking.

Public policy

Bolsa Atleta was created in 2005 during President Lula’s first term in office. The program is hailed as one of the largest in the world for direct sponsorship of sportspeople and aims to guarantee minimum conditions for sports preparation for Brazilian athletes from the age of 14.

At the 2021 Olympic and Paralympic Games, in Tokyo, 80 percent of the Olympic delegation and 95 percent of the Paralympic delegation were beneficiaries of the program.