News Details

Approval of the new legal framework for sports training, which makes it mandatory for the activities provided to be suitable for people with disabilities, encouraging inclusive sports practice.

O Decree-Law No 117/2023 December 20 - new legal regime of sports training, seeks to respond adequately to the growth of the sports market, since, associated with this growth, should be required to entities and institutions that develop sports training activities rigor, requirement, transparency and professionalism.

Of note is the concern to promote inclusive sports practice, requiring training entities to prepare a training project that provides mechanisms for the promotion of gender equality and the inclusion of people with disabilities.

Thus, under the legislation now in force, the registration of training providers with the Instituto Português do Desporto e da Juventude, I. P. (IPDJ, I. P.) is required, and they must comply with a set of requirements, namely the presentation of a description of the activities to be carried out and their compatibility with compulsory education, with criteria of gender parity and the suitability of the activities for people with disabilities, the respective training project, the identification of the facilities and the guarantee of their adequacy and legality, compulsory insurance, the identification of technical staff, their criminal record, the documents proving their professional qualifications and the declaration confirming their physical and mental fitness to perform the duties.

Organising bodies are also required to draw up a code of good conduct for the prevention and combating of physical or psychological violence and for the protection of children and young people.

The IPDJ, I.P. shall create and keep up-to-date a database of the bodies organising sports training activities, accessible to the public, containing, among other information, the types of activities offered, the reports of inspections and surveys and the penalties applied.

Finally, the requirements to which the facilities where the sports training activities take place are subject, as well as the transport and feeding of the participants, are also defined in this legal regime.

It should be noted that certain realities identified in the context of sports training have led to the finding that there is a wide range of potential risks that affect and may jeopardise the well-being of children and young people, undermining the essential objectives that they want to achieve, sometimes resulting in early abandonment of sport, sometimes in serious situations of risk and danger for athletes, being one of the factors that led to the definition of this regime.