Sports institutions, of all types, have over the past years remained dependent on government funding and subsidies they receive from the Ministry of Youth and Sports. With this, development and keeping pace with the requirements of the age become impossible; therefore, there must be a new financial policy in all sports institutions and bodies, in which they search for sources of funding that ensure financial sustainability and help them achieve the goals for which they were established. We will present how to achieve this through a set of pillars, as follows:

Diverse funding

It is very important for all sports institutions to seek to diversify their funding sources and not rely on a single source—especially government funding—and to depend on varied sources such as sponsorships, sales rights, and media. This is in addition to investing their sports facilities during times outside sports practice in order to provide financial sources, and working to achieve a distinctive form of partnership with the private sector—especially in light of what the sports and youth laws have called for regarding the necessity of activating investment in sports and youth facilities. It should be noted here that, in the early stages of implementing this vision, different sports and youth institutions may rely on mixed funding between government funding and self-funding in a way that achieves sustainable financing for these organizations—while the continuation of government funding for some bodies or institutions would be on a limited scale—and the government would not be abandoning its role in supporting these bodies and fair sports practice for all segments of the Egyptian people. The state should also take a set of measures through legislation and regulations governing sports work in a way that encourages supporting entities and the private sector to direct their activities toward investing in the sports field.

Tax incentives

The Ministry of Youth and Sports, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Investment, should work to propose some legislation or regulations that provide tax facilities for those wishing to invest in the sports field, in a way that motivates these bodies and companies to invest in the sports sector in a manner that elevates the sports system in general and contributes to achieving the goals of sports in Egypt, and for sports to take its role as a supporter of the Egyptian economy like all other fields. Sport can be a strong supporter of the future of investment in Egypt, as seen in many experiences regionally, such as the United Arab Emirates, and globally, such as Britain, Russia, and Brazil, in the successes those countries achieved in the world of sports investment in a way that was positively reflected on the national economy. We find that sport in Britain contributed in 2010 a value exceeding 20.3 billion pounds sterling to the British economy, equivalent to 1.9% of the total economy, and in the same year sport contributed to raising employment rates and provided approximately 400,000 full-time jobs, equivalent to 2.3 of the total jobs in Britain. It also created added value for the British economy of about 2.7 billion pounds sterling, and the annual returns of benefits to public health for those who practice sports activities reached about 11.2 billion pounds sterling. As for the income from Italian football matches, it ranked second among the revenues of the Italian national economy. In Japan, the total productivity value of sports was 4,500 billion Japanese yen, ranking fifth in the Japanese national economy.

Sports sponsorship

For many years, the sports sponsorship market remained confined to football or to some sports activities that rely heavily on popularity and mass following. This is logical because sponsors pursue a large market to display their products, or to associate their brand with the most popular sport. But it is time for attention to be directed to other sports or activities, where highlighting them becomes a kind of new market that attracts sponsors, in a way that provides those sports and athletes with the necessary funding to raise their technical and popular level and achieve accomplishments—especially since there are many sports that achieve achievements at all global levels and have not received sufficient sponsorship and support from investors. Therefore, there must be new thinking toward searching for new sponsorship markets beyond the sports familiar to sponsors—meaning football—which constitutes a kind of support for those activities toward development and achieving global achievements.

Investment in sports infrastructure

It is very important to encourage investors to invest in sports infrastructure, whether by establishing stadiums, sports halls, swimming pools, and other sports facilities in new cities and different places where sports facilities do not exist. This is in addition to using BOT methods to build stadiums and sports halls in clubs and youth centers where suitable spaces exist, which provides a type of long-term investment that achieves financial benefits for the investor, in addition to returns that accrue to sports entities and achieving goals that serve the general sports sector and strengthen the building of a base of practitioners of different sports. It also enables hosting major sporting events on those sports facilities or sports infrastructure in a way that enhances Egypt’s international standing—and this is through investment in sports infrastructure.

The economic impact of sport

It is very important to work on maximizing the economic impact of sport, as sport has contributed to supporting many countries’ economies, which were previously referred to. Here, the concerned state entities must work to maximize the economic impact of sport so it becomes a supporter of the Egyptian economy through sports investment, activating the economics of the sports market in Egyptian sport, and expanding the hosting and organization of global sporting events—alongside investment in sports infrastructure and other projects that should be adopted by the entity proposed to be established to manage the Egyptian sports economy, which is a Sports Business Council, drawing on local and global expertise of the highest level of competence to plan for the future of the Egyptian sports economy so that it takes its place as a main supporter of the Egyptian economy.

I have tried, in what was presented above, to offer a set of suggestions and solutions to achieve financial sustainability for sports institutions from my point of view, and through what I have reviewed of research, studies, or reports in this regard, asking God Almighty that it may be beneficial, and that I may have been successful in what I presented.

Written by Dr. Hamada Al-Antabli.