The Brazilian Challenges for Effective a Sport Public Policy

With the upcoming of the two biggest sporting events in the world - the FIFA World Cup 2014 and the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in 2016 - Brazil is experiencing a unique moment and fosters the discussion on the sport and the opportunities for its development.

The realization of these mega sporting events in Brazil brings to agenda the discussion of sports infrastructure in the country and the necessity to build a national sport public policy committed not only in winning another world championship in football or guarantee a better classification in the medals table in the next Olympics, but also a policy that ensures the practice of sports to all citizens.

This article presents the systematization of sport public policies adopted by the federal government in recent years that aims to contribute to the further development of the sport nationwide. The issue consists in the analysis of programs that encourage physical activity and sports, the payment of stipend for athletes (Bolsa-Atleta), tax relief to companies that support sports initiatives (Sports Incentive Law), improvement in national sports infrastructure and the science support for this area.

The results shows that the federal government has been increasing the incentive for high performance sport and ensuring better training and participation of Brazilian athletes in international competitions. Nevertheless, the sport practice is still a result of isolated initiatives. The challenge is to harness the moment that sport has in Brazil to foster discussion and seek to consolidate a national public policy for sport in the coming years.