In a development that shows both the growing wave of support for Olympic sports in Brazil as well as an important source of investment for sporting projects across the country, the Minas Tennis Club in Belo Horizonte has just finalised two new funding arrangements involving the Brazilian Ministry of Sport’s “Incentive for Sport Law”.
The club has utilised the law to create two new programs: "The Establishment and Development of Athletes through Sport Science” and “The Fiat and Minas Tennis Club Olympic Swimming Project/Rio 2016”. Together, the projects will benefit over 900 athletes and cost R$11.5 million, much of which will come by way of the innovative regulation.
In effect since August 2007, the Incentive for Sport Law is aimed at encouraging greater support of sport by the private sector by allowing companies and private donors to sponsor a wide range of approved sporting entities, programs, facilities and activities in return for significant tax deductions.
To take advantage of the law, sporting organisations must apply to the Ministry of Sport to be included in the annual list of approved projects, which can be viewed by anyone through the Ministry website, with sponsors and donors then choosing what they would like to support and going through their own application process. The funds then go directly to the owners/supervisors of the project. Approved projects are many and varied, in general incorporating athletes and teams without other sponsorship and sporting disciplines with little support.
Since the beginning of the program in 2007, sponsorship and donations of R$250 million have been captured through the program out of a possible R$941 million in approved projects, with close to a 40% increase in funds captured from 2008-2009. After certain restrictions and limits have been applied, the Ministry estimates that the maximum amount possible through the program is a not insignificant R$300 million per year.