Ministry wants labor law for athletes and agency against racism and manipulation – 7/5/2023 – Sport

The Ministry of Sports is preparing a series of proposals to circumvent the vetoes to the General Sports Law. The proposals analyzed include a stronger labor law for athletes and the creation of a regulatory agency for the integrity of sport, with the task of monitoring, for example, cases of racism and match-fixing.

The idea of ​​minister Ana Moser’s office, according to people interviewed by the Sheetis that the proposals be sent to Congress via a bill, but they will still need to be endorsed by the Planalto.

Topics such as the Sports Incentive Law, the National Sports Fund, the National Sports Council and tax exemption for sports equipment should also be part of the package of proposals.

When President Lula (PT) vetoed a series of provisions of the General Sports Law that had been approved by Congress, he also determined that the portfolio should, within 90 days, send measures on how to forward such matters.

The report sought out the minister to position herself on the subject and she said that proposals are being studied that will be presented at the end of the period stipulated by the Planalto.

“All these structures are important for the system and they will be presented in the form of a bill, regulation, ordinance or [com alterações] within the current legislation”, he said.

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.

Lula vetoed, for example, an excerpt that stipulated that clubs could continue paying their obligations to athletes in the event of a contractual breach only until the moment they signed a bond with another institution — from then on, they would only have to pay the salary difference, if the new value is less than the first.

Thus, the determination that the teams need to pay everything that is foreseen until the end of the contract is currently in force.

Lula also vetoed the creation of the National Sports Fund and the National Authority for the Prevention and Combat of Violence and Discrimination in Sport (Anesporte), the transformation of the Incentive Law (which is periodic) into perennial and the exemption of IPI (Tax on Industrialized Products) for sporting goods.

The vetoes were made, according to the Planalto argument, for example due to lack of study on the budgetary impacts —as in the case of the fund and the tax exemption— or due to lack of initiative —when a certain measure can only be taken by the Executive and not by the Legislative, for example, case of the authority.

The suppression of the excerpts, however, caused complaints in sectors of Congress, who said they were not heard for the decision, which affected a proposal built by the parliamentarians.

“We keep looking for where Congress made so many mistakes. Vetoing 134 devices without even listening to the Chamber of Deputies is ignoring each of the actors who participated in this process”, said Felipe Carreras (PSB-PE), who is part of the base from the government.

“In addition to the legal uncertainty that these vetoes bring, we spent years of work and dedication to now have a law that does not live up to the reality of Brazilian sport”, he added.

Questioned, the minister said that the law was processed during the government of Jair Bolsonaro (PL), when there was no Ministry of Sport, and that is why the portfolio did not have the opportunity to give an opinion on the subject at the time.

“We only had the condition to interfere in the general law through vetoes, because we did not participate in the process. So it is understandable that there is some resistance, some discomfort, discomfort, it is part of the game, but this government action is legitimate. create some discomfort. All this complementation work will remedy that”, said Ana Moser.

After the vetoes, the Ministry of Sport has been making agendas with civil society, sports entities and parliamentarians to prepare proposals that aim to meet the needs created by the deleted sections of the General Law.

Last week, there was a meeting between the Ministry of Sport and the Ministry of Labor and a working group should be created to work on labor issues in the sector.

According to people present at this debate, the intention is to create the legal figure of the athlete within the labor law —currently, the sector is mostly governed by specific contracts.

Special attention should be given to the social security issue, since athletes have short careers and do not continue to earn income after retirement.

A working group should be created to analyze the topic and studies on the subject are already being mapped, for example one by the TST (Superior Labor Court) and one by Sesi.

The idea is that the issue of pregnant athletes will also be addressed and that, in the end, a bill will be drawn up to be sent by the government to Congress.

The authority vetoed by Lula should be replaced, in the proposal that will be made to the Planalto, by an independent agency that will have the task of monitoring the integrity of the sport —and this scope would include issues of racism and xenophobia, but also of manipulation of results. , as in the case of the sports betting mafia.

The structure of this body and the origin of its budget are still being studied by the portfolio, according to the people interviewed by the report.

For the creation of tax exemption for sports equipment, the Ministry of Sport asked entities such as the COB (Olympic Committee of Brazil) to say which items necessary for the practice of activities do not have national production — the tax benefit would be exclusively for this category.

As for the creation of the National Sports Fund, one of the main flags of the minister and seen by her as fundamental for the application of the National Sports System, the folder must propose a PEC (Proposed Amendment to the Constitution) to the Planalto.

A solution for the Sports Incentive Law is also studied, according to members of the portfolio.

The device is currently one of the main sponsors of sports programs in the country and currently has an expiration date (which can always be renewed). The General Law provided that the device would be perennial but the section was vetoed by the Planalto, since there is a provision in the Constitution that benefits of this type must have an expiration date.