Lula sanctions the General Sports Law, but vetoes a device that restricted compensation to athletes – 06/14/2023 – Sport

The government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) sanctioned this Wednesday (14th) the General Sports Law, which replaces and consolidates the Pelé Law and a series of other laws in the area in a single text.

The Minister of Sports, Ana Moser, said that the device referring to the compensatory clause for athletes after the termination of contracts was vetoed. The government, therefore, meets the demands of the athletes, who even held protests during the Copa do Brasil games.

President Lula also vetoed the creation of a National Sports Fund due to constitutionality problems, but the government claims it will work within a period of 90 days to deal with this issue.

The bill for the new General Sports Law was approved by the Senate on May 9, after more than six years in progress in both Houses of the Legislature. The approved and sanctioned text provides for punishment for cases of racism and xenophobia, cases of corruption and even brings innovations on the payment of athletes’ labor rights.

The point that provoked the reaction of athletes, in particular soccer players, provided that clubs could pay compensation to athletes when they break contracts, at the time they were hired by another entity, provided that an amount equal to or greater than their previous contract.

Soccer players held protests against this device during Copa do Brasil matches in recent weeks. This passage ended up vetoed by President Lula.

The clause was a club demand and criticized by footballers. Defenders of it in the sports sector said that it would provide greater guarantees for the payment of salaries for athletes in different sports, not just football.

Ana Moser also said that some of the vetoes involve constitutionality or budgetary issues, but that the government would not necessarily be against it. President Lula then established a period of 90 days for these points to be analyzed and possibly resolved with other legal acts, such as ordinances and decrees.

One of these points was the creation of the National Sports Fund, which should serve to finance public policies in the area.

“These are issues of constitutionality and budget guidelines. So the National Fund was voted on, due to these issues of not forecasting expenses. and can move forward,” he said.

The bill provides for two to four years of imprisonment for cases of racism or crimes committed against women — the court can convert this penalty into removal from the stadium.

The well-known articles 18 and 18A of the Pelé Law, which prohibit sports entities from receiving public funds if they do not respect principles of alternation of power, transparency and participation of athletes in their assemblies, were converted into article 35 of the new text.

The novelty is that, now, the law provides that, in order to take advantage of the resources of the National Sports System (a body that will organize the distribution of federal resources), an entity has to offer equivalent awards for men and women, as well as for para-sports athletes. , in competitions “organized or [de que] to participate in”.

The project also classifies all sports as professional – before, only football used to have this type of designation.

As a result, other high-performance sports, such as basketball and volleyball, will need to follow the rules of the Fan Statute (which imposes, for example, the provision of ambulances in arenas) and are also prevented from using the Sports Incentive Law to payment of wages.

The text says that base category athletes should be provided with visits to family members and also a continuous guidance program against abuse and sexual exploitation.