The 15th place of the Portuguese Federation of Canoeing in the classification of the public financing of sport is justified with the application of a set of “criteria” and not only with high performance, explained this Saturday the Secretary of State for Youth and Sport.
“We have funding for regular activities to support the modalities depending on the number of athletes, clubs and coaches. We also have financing for the modality for what the national teams do and also for the high performance elite in what is the weight of the modality in the Olympic and Paralympic preparation”, explained João Paulo Correia, in Ponte de Lima, where do the marathon. Canoeing world championships are taking place.
Canoeing leaders and athletesincluding Fernando Pimenta, have lamentingrepeatedly, the fact that canoeing does not deserve “adequate” funding from guardianship to their work and sporting merit, especially when compared to other modalities, which they claim do not have the same international brilliance —this year canoeing already has 27 medals in the European and World Championships alone— nor the same intensity of sports activity.
“The second most supported modality in the Olympic project is canoeing, it is on the podium in second place ex-aequo with judo,” said the official, referring specifically to the criterion of sporting merit.
In the contract with the IPDJ, the canoeing federation receives in 2022 52,000 euros for organization and management, 119,000 for national development and 321,000 for high performance, totaling 492,000 euros.
This total amount places canoeing in 15th place in the ranking, behind athletics (2,865,200 euros), handball (2,083,000), football (2,059,000), basketball (1,699,540), volleyball (1,675,000). ), swimming (1,648,720), judo (1,275,240), gymnastics (1,190,750) and cycling (1,000,000).
Below one million euros of global support, canoeing is still ahead of skating (940,400 euros), rugby (844,400), sailing (778,720), triathlon (655,420) and tennis (591,400).
“The public financing contracts for the modalities are carried out through program contracts, signed between the IPDJ and each federation. They are put in writing, the criteria are established and the values are calculated based on these. (…) All the criteria are weighted in the calculation of the value. All the federations know exactly how much money they receive”, highlighted João Paulo Correia.
THE The canoeing federation has also criticized the weight of the historic in this evaluation, since it argues that the “valuation of meritocracy” should be privileged.
The person in charge also highlighted the “greatest increase in history in the financing of Olympic and Paralympic preparation”, referring to the 18.4% growth of the Olympic with respect to Tokyo 2020 and an evolution of 32.9% of the Paralympic, totaling 31.2 million euros.
By winning, so far, 27 medals in European and World championships, in its various disciplines, when the season has not yet ended, canoeing has already equaled its best historical performance, established in 2021, when it obtained the same number of podiums. .
Source: Observadora
