IN SHORT:
- Champion titles in North American team sports leagues in Latvia do not meet the conditions of high achievements
- There are precedents for deviating from the letter of the rules – bonuses were also paid to Alona Ostapenko and Mairim Briedis
- After the victory of Kristaps Porzingis’ team in the NBA championship, the Ministry of Education and Science does not plan to initiate changes in the awarding procedure
- The president of the Latvian Hockey Federation, Aigars Kalvītis, would like state bonuses for the support of children’s sports for the individual successes of athletes
- The president of the Latvian Tennis Union, Ernests Gulbis, encourages re-evaluating the system of awarding athletes
- The system for awarding cash prizes could be reviewed in the context of the creation of the new Sports Law
After the Boston “Celtics” victory, Porzingis received public congratulations from Latvia’s top officials, while Bļugers did not even receive them last year.
The regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers provide that cash prizes are due for high achievements in the Olympic, Paralympic and Deaf Games, as well as official world and European championships. The circle of sports greats that the state awards every year is very wide, together with coaches and service personnel, the number sometimes reaches well into the second hundred.
Award-winning athletes represent a very wide range of sports – from luge and motocross to board games and fishing.
Victories in the NBA and NHL championships in Latvia do not qualify as a measure of outstanding achievements. Success in tennis doesn’t qualify either, but in 2017 the government set a precedent by awarding Alena Ostapenko a 28,000-euro bonus for winning the French Open, even though the tournament organizers had already paid the champion more than two million euros in prize money. Boxer Mairis Briedis received the same amount – 28,000 euros – due to inertia, because his success did not formally qualify for cash prizes for outstanding achievements in sports. Ostapenko and Briedis received awards with a different justification – for carrying the country’s image to the world.
In 2017, consultations began in the circles of politicians and civil servants about the evaluation of such high-profile sports achievements, but no official documents were created. The Ministry of Education and Science (IZM) stated that it does not plan to initiate anything in the case of Porzingis.
It is understandable that for athletes who earn millions, a bonus of a few tens of thousands of euros from the state is not very relevant. However, this would not prevent alternative awarding, for example, allocating a certain amount to an initiative chosen by the athlete or to the type of sport he represents.
The president of the Latvian Hockey Federation (LHF), Aigars Kalvītis, considers it necessary to develop a new regulation that would provide for the allocation of additional state funding to federations in order to promote the development of the sport for children.
“Probably, it would be desirable to have some sort of assessment, and probably so that this money could be invested back into children’s sports,” said Kalvītis. “There could be some credit to the federations with the indication that this money should be used to nurture the next stars.”
As a former head of government, Kalvītis does not see any bureaucratic obstacles why such an initiative could not be implemented.
“There should be only political will. I don’t see any problems to do it if there is only political will,” emphasized Kalvītis. “Right now we don’t feel that much support for sports.”
The president of the Latvian Tennis Union, Ernests Gulbis, is skeptical about transferring money to federations.
because they often do not participate in forging the athlete’s success or even put obstacles. According to him, it is necessary to think at the very root of what is considered outstanding achievements and why they should be rewarded at all.
“This issue should be thought about more broadly – why do we reward athletes with cash prizes for outstanding achievements, but not, for example, doctors, farmers or cultural workers? The state should think about tools to get the most talented, world-class outstanding people, regardless of their field, back to Latvia. How to encourage them to leave their ideas and experiences in Latvia,” explained Gulbis. “It is possible to think about special tax credits for projects that have, for example, social goals. The state must create conditions to encourage world-class excellence to create something here.”
A change in the prize money system has been discussed for years. The Ministry of the Interior explained that
for progress made until September 30, 2024, will be rewarded according to the existing system.
The currently valid procedure could be changed in the context of the development of the new Sports Law, as well as in connection with the introduction of the social guarantee system for former athletes.
However, the process of developing the new Sports Law has been delayed – the most optimistic forecasts predict that its new version could be adopted in 2025.
Typo?
Highlight the text and press Ctrl+Enter to send the corrected text fragment to the editor!
Highlight the text and press the Report an error button to send the corrected text fragment to the editor!
Report a bug
