Minister of Welfare Uldis Augulis emphasizes that “together with the Ministry of Education and Science, the necessary legislative initiatives in the new version of the Sports Law must be more actively developed in order to organize the social protection of athletes and stimulate athletes to make a decision to take care of their social protection in good time”.
In January 2023, 243 professional athletes are registered and there is no professional athlete who has voluntarily joined the pension insurance. Article 19 of the Sports Law states that a professional athlete is a natural person who prepares for and participates in sports competitions on the basis of an employment contract and for a hired fee. A professional athlete is an employee, and he is subject to mandatory state social insurance contributions (VSAOI), which as of January 1, 2020 is 860 euros.
Also, during the meeting, the provision of accessibility of Paralympic athletes and people with special needs to sports infrastructure facilities in national sports bases and the possible next steps for solving this problem were discussed.
Minister of Welfare Uldis Augulis expressed hope that LOV will continue to successfully promote the preparation of Latvia’s best athletes for the Olympic Games and will develop the provision of sports medicine services at an ever higher level.
Information prepared by:
Egils Zariņš, public relations specialist of the Ministry of Welfare’s Communication Department
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