Government representatives have committed to significantly reduce bureaucracy, at least in words, but the Ministry of Education and Science (MES) plans to take a step in the opposite direction by establishing the Latvian Sports Fund as a special institution for distributing state funding.
It is expected that up to ten people will work in the fund, and about 600,000 euros per year will be required to ensure its operation.
"We see this fund as a new model of financing because the sports sector needs to learn to manage the available resources more effectively. Moreover, the long-term allocation of funds from the contingency reserve proves that sports funding is insufficient to meet all needs. Therefore, similar to how there is a Cultural Capital Fund in the cultural sector, we want to create a tool that will allow us to attract funding - not only from the state budget but also from other sources, such as international funds and donations," explained the Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Science for Sports and Youth, Edgars Pūkinskis, adding that at this moment, it is just an idea, as neither the new sports law nor the law on the Latvian Sports Fund has been approved yet.
If during discussions arguments arise that such a fund is impractical, the ministry will not insist on its creation and will start working on other funding models. In any case, to ensure good governance and a transparent approach in sports funding, additional human resources will be required; however, the idea should not be dismissed simply because the bureaucratic apparatus will increase, as sports will only benefit from the establishment of such a fund.
Leave a comment