BRICS Sports Working Group Moves Forward in Shaping Key Priorities

The group’s primary focus is to strengthen cooperation among BRICS countries by promoting sport and physical activity as tools for development

By the Brazilian Ministry of Sports, with adaptations

The BRICS Sports Working Group wrapped up its second cycle of virtual meetings this Friday (23), marking significant progress in advancing the bloc’s sports agenda. The discussions aim to boost cooperation among member countries, using sport and physical activity as tools for development and laying the groundwork for concrete guidelines that will help make BRICS more unified and influential in the global sports arena.

During the meetings, government leaders have worked on drafting a joint declaration intended to establish a solid foundation for sports cooperation among the now-expanded BRICS member countries.

“The outcome achieved so far by our Working Group is very positive. For the first time, we were able to bring together countries that had not yet participated in the negotiations on the structure of the memorandum of understanding. So, we aligned those suggestions and incorporated the contributions from representatives of the new countries now joining the group into the text,” said Fábio Araújo, National Secretary for Parasports at the Ministry of Sports and the official leading BRICS sports agenda negotiations.

The document covers topics such as implementing multilateral sports projects, promoting traditional sports, sharing research, data, and technology in the sports sector, establishing technical cooperation mechanisms, and organizing joint congresses and training programs, among others.

The Working Group’s third round of virtual meetings is set for May 27 and 28. The ministerial gathering — where the joint declaration will be signed — is scheduled for June 4 at the Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia.

“We hope that during next week’s meetings, with all the suggestions already compiled, we’ll be able to finalize the declaration, which is set to be signed in early June during the BRICS sports ministers’ meeting. It will be a meaningful milestone during Brasil’s presidency of the group,” Fábio concluded.

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