MADRID, 7 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Higher Sports Council (CSD) will have a budget of 375 million euros for the next year 2023, “the largest” that a Government has ever dedicated and that ratifies its “clear and determined commitment” to sport and with the aim mainly put on a great result at the 2024 Paris Games.
The figure was revealed this Friday at a press conference by the president of the CSD, José Manuel Franco, who was accompanied by the Minister of Culture and Sports, Miquel Iceta, who explained that the total budget, which still has to be approved by Congress, it will be 1,804 million, an amount that he believes gives the two subjects “the consideration of essential public goods.”
“The 375 million earmarked for sport are, without a doubt, great news, and they are the best expression of the Government’s commitment to a profound modernization of sport and a clear and determined commitment to it,” Franco said.
The leader recalled that “sometimes, the words are carried away by the wind”, but that this bet “where it is reflected is in the budgets”. “It is the largest amount that a government has allocated to sports, it is almost an increase of 20 percent from the previous year,” he stressed.
Of these 375 million euros, 235 are specific to the CSD and the other 140 come from the funds of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan. “We are the only government that has included sport in these funds”, recalled Franco, who pointed out that this amount will basically be distributed to “a social plan, to improve equality and integration (16 million)”, to the “modernization of facilities in line with the ecological transition (69)”, and to “digitalization (55.2)”.
As for the specific one for its organization, “which will have 27 million more than in 2022”, it will be dedicated mainly to “the professionalization of women’s football, the modernization of the CARs and the launch of the ‘Team Spain’ program”, intended to the preparation for Paris 2024.
The subsidy to the federations increases to reach 57.8 million, while the Spanish Olympic Committee (COE) and the Spanish Paralympic Committee (CPE) will have 875,000 and 400,000 euros, respectively, at the level of 2019 and 2020.
“It is a record budget that is going to advance in modernizing the entire Spanish sports ecosystem and that is going to revolutionize the Olympic and Paralympic preparation for Paris 2024”, celebrated Franco, who influenced the ‘Team Spain’ program, which will have a total of 48 million, with 16 for each of the three years (2022, 2023 and 2024).
OPTIMISTIC FOR PARIS 2024
The president of the CSD clarified the “selection of beneficiaries” to opt for these aids will be chosen by “purely technical criteria” and for those athletes who have “options, not only to win a medal at the Games or World Cups but to reach the finals”.
“The federations will provide us with a list of athletes who can be helped so that they have the best and can prepare in the best way possible. The challenge is to match the success of Barcelona’92 (22 medals), it’s not easy, but let’s go to try it and I would say that we are going to achieve it”, he assured.
Finally, with “a well-understood pride”, Franco stressed that with these amounts they are going to exceed the figure of 1,000 million that had been announced last year for sport. “In this legislature, 1,149 million will be invested, we are lucky to have a government that is clearly committed to sport and these data show it. For the world of sport, these budgets are great news,” he said.
For his part, Minister Miquel Iceta, who focused more on breaking down the items for Culture, warned that the figures highlight the consolidation of a “cultural and sports renaissance that should be strengthened in 2023”, and that one of the objectives is “to promote new cultural and sports habits and create new audiences, especially among the youngest”, he remarked.