City clubs and associations are exempt from paying to use municipal sports equipment
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Filipa Brito
City clubs and associations are exempt from paying to use municipal sports equipment. This measure is in place until the year ends and it will be reassessed according to the pandemic. It includes 25 clubs in the city and a total of 11 sports categories, in 12 equipment within the municipal sports network.
The Municipality of Porto is aware of the growing constraints that sports clubs are enduring in such troubled times, thus it advanced this measure to exempt all clubs and associations from paying fees to make use of the municipal facilities. This extraordinary measure will last till December ends and it will have an estimated impact of over 50 thousand euros.
The city clubs that benefit from such a measure are Académico Futebol Clube, the Centro de Atletismo do Porto, the Clube Desportivo de Portugal, the Escola de Rugby do Porto, the Grupo Desportivo do Viso, the Núcleo Desportivo do Bairro do Bom Pastor, the Ramaldense Futebol Clube, the Sport Comércio and Salgueiros, among others.
The exemption includes 11 sports categories, namely athletics, badminton, basketball, football, futsal, karate, kendo, kickboxing, rugby and voleibol, within the following municipal sports equipment: the pavilion of Fontes Pereira de Melo, Irene Lisboa, Lagarteiro, Leonardo Coimbra, Nicolau Nasoni, Pêro Vaz de Caminha and Viso, the Parque Desportivo de Ramalde, the Polidesportivo dos Choupos, the Campo Sintético do Viso, the Campo da FADEUP and the Estádio Universitário do Porto.
"In the face of adversity caused by the pandemic, this is another measure by the Municipality of Porto of supporting sports and encouraging both clubs and Associations to not stop their activities. They play a fundamental role as they generate synergies in all areas of society, that bring together thousands of children and youth, boosting their physical and mental wellbeing", highlights Catarina Araújo, councillor for Youth and Sports at Porto City Hall.
In addition, the Municipality of Porto will continue to fully support athlete registration regarding formation classes in the city clubs. The mandatory medical checks are also fully supported by Porto city Hall. Over 1000 athletes have benefited from this measure.