On Wednesday, the Ministry of Education and Science (IZM) announced a developed project, which envisages a radical change in the principles of distribution of state funding for sports, with the aim of directing significantly more funds to children’s and youth sports activities, as well as to the development of national sports in 2026.
The Ministry emphasizes that this is only an initial offer, about which extensive consultations will be held with sports industry organizations, municipalities and other involved parties.
Main goals and stages of the model
The new sports financing model is conceived as a two-stage process, which will begin in 2026. The Ministry explains that the change in financial distribution is based on the need to provide state resources for as many children and young people as possible, thus making sports opportunities more accessible in all regions of Latvia.
The following initiatives are planned in the first phase of implementation:
Reducing inequality in sports schools: It is planned to allocate one million euros to the new accredited professional sports education institutions. These are the institutions in which until now there have been no state-funded pedagogical rates, although their teaching training groups meet all the funding criteria set by the Cabinet of Ministers. The move will address the historic disparity between accredited sports schools.
Support of folk sports programs: With the year 2026, it is proposed to increase funding for folk sports programs up to 500,000 euros. It is important that the range of applicants for the competition organized by the Ministry of Education and Culture will be expanded, allowing national sports organizations to submit applications independently, and not only through sports federations.
Administrative burden and funding of federations
In order to reduce the administrative burden, the Ministry of Education and Culture proposes to allocate state funding for core activities directly to 50 sports federations, which represent approximately 95% of children and young people involved in sports. For the rest of the federations, funding is proposed to be channeled through the Council of Latvian Sports Federations (LSFP). This solution would be used as a transitional period before the new model is fully implemented. The Ministry also plans to optimize the time required for decision-making and contract signing so that funding reaches the federations faster.
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Although in 2025 the total funding of the industry reaches 56.4 million euros (including a one-time investment of 4.97 million euros for the organization of the European Basketball Championship), the ministry admits that the lack of resources is felt, especially in the sports of the people, as well as children and youth, which negatively affects the physical activity of the society as a whole.
Long-term goals and system alignment
MES emphasizes that the basis of the new model is the need to replace the historically fragmented and unequal approach with clear and public funding criteria. The main goal is to create a fair, transparent and sustainable system that would effectively strengthen the development of sports at all levels: children’s and youth sports, popular sports and high performance sports.
In order to achieve a full-fledged implementation of the sector’s financing model, the Ministry of the Interior considers the approval of a new Sports Law, the development of subordinate Cabinet regulations and the creation of a sports fund to be mandatory. It is also suggested to review the existing systems of professional orientation and interest education in sports, support systems of federations and training mechanisms for young talented athletes. In addition, a unified national sports register should be created anew.
This model is based on the basic principles used in several European countries, which include clear programs for children’s sports, popular sports and high performance sports, as well as transparent standards for the management of sports organizations. The Ministry of Education and Culture presented its vision at the Latvian National Sports Council (LNSP) on Wednesday, stating that after the initial delay (the model was initially promised to be presented in October), the discussion started now will be continued.
The model will be improved through consultations: in the first quarter of 2026, the Ministry of Education and Culture will start the second and final stage of implementation of the sports financing model – detailed consultations with the sports industry to clarify the criteria, mechanisms and transition period for the implementation of the new calculation procedure.
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