During part of the second half of March, lottery houses were closed in some states, until a federal government decree allowed its reopening as an essential service. "It is very worrying. We are seeing the possibility of the collection dropping by 50% this month, since many lottery stores that are in shopping malls remain closed", says CPB president, Mizael Conrado.
The director general of the COB, Rogério Sampaio, makes a similar forecast for the reduction in April. "This worries us, it is a very significant drop and we need to wait for the next few months," he says. By law, the COB receives 1.71% of the amount collected by lotteries, and the CPB, 0.95%. Other government entities and bodies linked to sports are also entitled to some slices of this cake.
These funds are transferred directly by Caixa and applied, in the case of committees, in the preparation of Brazilian athletes, mainly for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. After the postponement of Tokyo-2020 to 2021 and the stoppage of sport worldwide, the expectation is to reach the main international event with very low investments. Initially, the COB expected to receive R$ 312 million (US$57.8m) in funds from the lotteries (97% of its total budget for the year), but it already knows that it will not get that amount.
In February, Caixa transferred R$ 30.9 million (US$5.5m) to the committee. In March, the amount was R$ 16.8 million (US$3m). In 2019, COB’s monthly average collection was R$ 23.9 million (US$4.3m), with peaks in the months of May and December, when large draws of the Mega-Sena lottery were held. In order to reach the amount it intended in 2020, the monthly average would need to be R$ 26 million (US$4.65m). In the CPB, the drop in March, in comparison with February, went from R$ 17.2 million (US$3.1m) to R$ 9.3 million (US$1.65m).
Last year, the committee received an average of R$ 13.3 million (US$2.4m) monthly. Caixa reported that the April data will be consolidated and released in early May. According to Rogério Sampaio, the volume of COB collection in 2018 and 2019, added to the cut in expenditures since 2017, means that the committee has a contingency resource in the amount of R$ 135 million (US$24.15m). Still, the idea is not to use it.
The lack of sports competitions at the moment and the stoppage of training also help the organization to save resources, although the salary of some coaches, several of whom are foreigners and who serve the elite of the country's athletes, continue to be paid normally. "Until Tokyo we are fully able to maintain the level of training. Now, it is logical that, if the period of decrease in the volume of bets continues, we will have to review situations, take measures so that the COB remains healthy. Our commitment is not to spend more than it collects," says the director.
As part of the entity's resources is passed on to more than 30 Olympic sports confederations, they are also expected to experience turbulent months. Since 2001, with the enactment of the Agnelo / Piva Law, which provided for the transfer of lotteries to the sports sector among others, Brazilian sport started to have a source of revenue that made it change its level internationally.
The calculations that define the distribution percentages have changed over the years, and the current division was established at the end of the Michel Temer government in 2018. From 1920, the year of Brazil's first Olympic participation, until 2000, the country won 66 medals in 18 participations. In the four editions after the law came into force, that number reached 62 medals.
With fuller safes, the Brazilian Paralympic sport also developed during this period, and the country managed to establish itself in the group of the ten leaders in the last three editions of the Games. The drop currently experienced in its main source of revenue is not the only indication that national sport will experience many difficulties in resuming after the peak of the pandemic.
Many sponsorship contracts for entities and athletes are scheduled to end in the second half of this year, which should be marked by the Tokyo Games. This is the case of Caixa's support (which does not depend on lottery transfers) to the gymnastics and athletics confederations and the CPB. Those who fail to renegotiate the extension of the agreements may be less supported in the final stretch of preparation for the 2021 event.
Some social clubs, major propellants of Olympic sport in the country, have already announced cuts in salaries for athletes and members of technical commissions. Last week, Esporte Clube Pinheiros, a reference in investments in the area, finished its contract with Thiago Braz, Olympic champion in pole vaulting in 2016. The expectation is that further cuts in the entity's high-yield sector will happen in the coming months.
Source: FOLHAPRESS
