CBF joins clubs' fight to change funding for Olympic sports

Thiago Lavinas

GloboEsporte.com - Live from Salvador

The Council of Clubs Training Olympic Athletes (CONFAO), created to discuss the transfer of public funds to the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB), gained a key ally this Friday. CBF president Ricardo Teixeira revealed that he had been approached by nine clubs and will support the cause with the Federal Government. The director, who is accompanying the FIFA delegation on its trips across Brazil to inspect the 17 candidate cities to host the 2014 World Cup, considers the demands fair. "The way this (funds) are divided is a mistake. The CBF, as an entity, doesn't train players. They all come from clubs. The club is the athlete's trainer. And it must be paid to continue this work. The Agnelo/Piva Law doesn't give a single penny to the clubs, which are the ones who train our athletes who compete in the Olympics." Minas doesn't receive a dime, Botafogo doesn't receive a dime, Flamengo doesn't receive a dime, Náutico doesn't receive a dime, Internacional doesn't receive a dime, Cruzeiro doesn't receive a dime, Vasco doesn't receive a dime, no one who trains our gymnasts or our swimmers receives a dime. Where do the swimmers train? At the clubs," Ricardo Teixeira told GLOBOESPORTE.COM. Nine soccer clubs have contacted the CBF in recent days asking for support in their fight with the Federal Government. Corinthians, Flamengo, Fluminense, Vasco, Internacional, Cruzeiro, Sport, Santos, and São Paulo have received a positive response from the organization. After hearing the clubs' proposals, Ricardo Teixeira will take them to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Sports Minister Orlando Silva.

"Clubs that work with Olympic sports are forced to transfer funds from football to support other sports. That's why I'll work hand in hand with football clubs to help address this problem in amateur sports. There's a tax incentive that the Brazilian people pay to support Olympic sports. And it's only fair that this goes to those who train the athletes," he said. Teixeira wanted to make it clear that the CBF has no interest in the 2% currently allocated to the COB. It only wants it to be passed on to the clubs. "The CBF doesn't receive a dime, we don't want to receive anything, and if we ever do, I'll pass it all on to the clubs. They should be the ones who have that money. Look what happened now with Flamengo's gymnastics. If Niterói didn't help, it would have folded due to lack of funds. The CBF president promised to address the matter as quickly as possible." After the FIFA delegation's visit to Brazil, Ricardo Teixeira will travel to London for the friendly match between the Brazilian national team and Italy next Wednesday. The matter will be discussed later. - As soon as Carnival is over, we will gather the clubs at the CBF to talk. We will organize a political campaign to change the law to help the clubs.

Let's do a political campaign to get the law changed to help the clubs - Ricardo Teixeira"

Minister Orlando Silva has already demonstrated his belief in the clubs' cause and is considering sharing the funds from the Agnelo/Piva Law. The discussion about the distribution of funds arose after constant complaints from the clubs and, recently, the formation of a council among Minas Gerais, Pinheiros, Flamengo, Vasco, Fluminense, Grêmio Náutico União, Sogipa, and Corinthians. The clubs are demanding that part of the 2% of gross federal lottery revenues that go to the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) and the Brazilian Paralympic Committee be shared with the clubs that train Olympic athletes. The COB claims that the distribution should be the responsibility of each confederation. COB prefers to ignore CBF's attack \

When contacted by GLOBOESPORTE.COM, the COB said, through its press office, that it will not comment on the CBF's support for the clubs. On the day Confao was created, the organization sent an official statement countering the criticism and stating that it already supports the clubs with resources beyond the Piva Law. Responsible for centralizing the study that defined the law's new funding criteria, COB superintendent Marcus Vinicius Freire said he did not wish to and was not authorized to speak about the organization's relationship with the CBF.