On June 1, 2006, athletes and former athletes such as Ana Moser, Raí, Hortência, Joaquim Cruz and Cafu came together with the aim of universalizing the practice of sport in schools and increasing its presence among Brazilians through the creation of a National Sports System. Two decades later, the group celebrates many important achievements, but still sees a long way to go to make its initial dream a reality.
The main objective is to create a national pact, consolidating a collective commitment between different levels of government and society to transform sport into a universal right, promoting inclusion and equity throughout the country.
The non-profit organization Atletas pelo Brasil —initially created as Athletes for Citizenship— currently has 60 permanent members and an administrative structure that works to have a representative in every discussion in which sport is part of the agenda, whether in Brasília or in any other state.
From the beginning, the group wanted to demonstrate that sport involves, in addition to physical conditioning, dimensions of thought, feeling and relationships between people, in addition to environmental, cultural and economic dimensions.
In these 20 years, one of the most celebrated achievements was making permanent and expanding the Sports Incentive Law. The NGO played a central role in the political articulation that led to the approval of the legislation, mobilizing parliamentarians, meeting with the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Hugo Motta, participating in public hearings and coordinating a national campaign that brought together more than 450 sports organizations and 5,000 supporters.
The project was approved by the Chamber and the Senate in just two days. In addition to making the policy permanent, the new legislation increased the income tax deduction limit that companies can allocate to social projects from 2% to 3% (from 2028), increasing resources for the educational sports sector and expanding benefits to the population.
Another achievement of the group was the inclusion of themes related to sports practices in national Education and Health plans.
“There were no structural goals for physical education and motor activity in the National Education Plan. We were able to approve themes more focused on comprehensive education in the report, which makes it easier to open financing and direct resources”, says Ana Moser, executive president of Atletas pelo Brasil, one of the greatest volleyball players of all time and who became the first woman to hold the position of Minister of Sports, between January and September 2023.
She states that one of the main problems in making sport universal in the country is the lack of strategies, especially at the municipal level.
“There is no discussion about the importance of physical activity for health. If we talk to rich people, they all do activities, but in the public sphere, no one knows how to do it because they have no strategy for it”, she adds, emphasizing that this is precisely where Atletas pelo Brasil comes in, helping city halls in the interior of the country to create their sports policies and structures.
With this work in mind, last December, the organization launched in Brasília the “Systemic Agenda for Sport and Physical Activity”, a technical document that brings together proposals to structure an integrated public sports policy in Brazil, following the guidelines of the General Sports Law, approved by the National Congress in 2022 and which created Sinesp (National Sports System), responsible for managing and promoting public policies for sports.
The agenda was created with the participation of more than 35 experts from the areas of sport, health and education, in addition to partnerships with UNESCO and UN Women. The document is the basis of the Mais Esporte Movement, an initiative that seeks to guarantee the right to practice sports for the entire population.
Non-partisan in nature, the agenda has the goal of proposing structural measures with the potential to transform the Brazilian reality in up to three government terms, that is, 12 years.
When preparing the document, the experts were based on data from the 2015 Pnad (National Household Sample Survey), according to which 62% of the Brazilian population aged 15 or over did not practice sports or any physical activity in their free time that year.
According to data from the 2024 Basic Education Census, 61% of school units did not have a sports court, 50% did not have an open courtyard and 34% did not have material for practicing sports.
With this information, the agenda proposes solutions in two blocks: structuring axes and dimensions of sport.
The structuring axes concern the institutional, technical and financial bases that support any public policy: governance, management and financing. The dimensions of sport translate, in practice, how these policies materialize throughout people’s lives, respecting their different cycles, contexts and needs.
This is a unique initiative in the world, with different athletes and disciplines fighting for new horizons. Athletes with their individual projects came together to create community and advocacy projects that impact the entire country
Three dimensions were determined: sport for children, adolescents and young people; sport for adults and the elderly; and sport for high performance.
The document explains each axis and each dimension, indicating the points that must be worked on, and how, to achieve them.
“This is a unique initiative in the world, of athletes and different modalities fighting for new horizons. Athletes with their individual projects came together to create community and advocacy projects that impact the entire country”, says Raí, creator of Fundação Gol de Letra and director of Atletas pelo Brasil.
Former gymnast Daiane dos Santos, one of the NGO’s most recent members, highlights that the group’s fight has as its motto “Sports for All” and cites the example of Olympic champion Rebeca Andrade to explain the concept.
“It’s a joint movement to unite good ideas and reach those who can make things happen. How does Rebeca become an Olympic champion without sport for everyone? Today we show the strength that sport has, how sport can, indeed, unite all Brazilians.”
