How much money does each Latin American surf federation receive from the government?

In the last three years, more than four million dollars from public coffers have been allocated to sport in the subcontinent

August 29 2018

By Antonio Sotillo

Peru, Argentina and Brazil are the Latin American countries that will receive the most money from the State in 2018 for the development of surfing in preparation for the Pan American Games in Lima 2019 and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, according to data collected by DUKE and reported by representatives of the various national federations of the subcontinent.

This money includes amounts provided by central and municipal governments and includes different items ranging from equipment, scholarships, plane tickets and accommodation, expenses on coaches and a long etcetera that varies from country to country.

The Peruvian surfing federation leads the ranking, receiving 615.384 dollars annually, followed by Brazil, which went from having no government support to receiving 400.000 dollars annually, and in third place is Argentina, which receives 200.000 dollars annually and maintains a visible upward trend in the funds it receives (see table).

All data obtained is organized alphabetically. The increase in public spending on surfing is clearly visible year after year.

Countries such as Chile, Ecuador, Colombia and Costa Rica are not far behind, receiving support in the range of between $100.000 and $200.000 annually.

Below in the table are Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Uruguay, which receive $10.000 or less (nothing in the case of Venezuela).

The other figure that shows the impact on the coffers of the inclusion of surfing in the Pan American Games and the Olympics is the constant growth in spending in all Latin American countries; it went from 1,28 million in 2016 to 1,29 in 2017 to 2 million in 2018. Countries that did not receive money, such as Brazil, Colombia, Puerto Rico and Mexico, began to do so this year.

The situation changes if we look at the totals over the last three years, not because of Peru, which continues to be the country that spends the most money on surfing with 1,8 million dollars, but because in the total, Costa Rica and Argentina surpass Brazil, which went from zero to 400.000 dollars in one year.

The study was unable to collect information from Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua.

The data also show that in general terms, over three years, just over four million dollars were spent on the development of surfing throughout Latin America.