Funding for professional sport and top-flight sport (question)

This grant is intended to help cover expenses relating to professional sporting activities recognised by CONI (football, cycling, boxing, golf, motorcycling, basketball) or to non-professional activities, provided the participant is competing in the top-tier national leagues.

The following expenses are eligible, provided they relate to the conduct of professional sport or top-flight sport during the sporting season in which the activity covered by the grant takes place and which ends in the year following that in which the application is submitted:
a) costs for sports coaches registered with professional bodies and for the following sports personnel: athletes, coaches, instructors, technical directors, sporting directors, fitness coaches, match officials;
b) costs for services: reimbursements to sports volunteers; self-employed services; transport; board and lodging; organisation of matches; charges on gate receipts; match fees; entry fees for matches/leagues;
c) general costs for sporting activities: training sessions and training camps; healthcare costs; purchase and hire of equipment; player trials; costs relating to relations with local teams; ancillary costs for player transfers.

The grant is awarded at 50 per cent of eligible expenditure and, in any event, within the limits of the operating loss, the operating deficit, any ‘de minimis’ aid already granted in the preceding three years, and subject to the resources made available.

The grant is provided for under Article 17 of Provincial Law No. 4 of 21 April 2016, “Provincial Law on Sport 2016”, whilst professional sporting activities are defined by Law No. 91 of 23 March 1981 ‘Provisions governing relations between clubs and professional sportspeople’.

All eligible applications are funded on the basis of the available resources, which are determined annually by the Provincial Executive. 

Should the available resources be insufficient to fully fund the eligible applications, the grant will be recalculated on a pro rata basis for those applications for which the grant payable exceeds 20,000 euros, and only for the portion of the grant exceeding that amount.

From 1 April 2026, access to public grants and subsidies by beneficiaries registered in the Companies Register who own, manage or use land, buildings, plant, machinery, and industrial and commercial equipment as referred to in Article 2424, first paragraph, Assets section, item B-II, numbers 1), 2) and 3) of the Civil Code,used in the course of business, is subject to the taking out of an insurance policy covering damage caused to such assets by natural disasters and catastrophic events. The policy must be in force at the time the grant is awarded and must remain in force for the entire duration of the initiatives. In the event of failure to comply with the insurance obligation – implemented at provincial level by Provincial Executive Resolution No. 2114 of 19 December 2025 – the grant will be refused.

Sports associations and clubs, including those incorporated as public limited companies or limited liability companies, which are registered in the National Register of Amateur Sports Activities and which carry out professional activities recognised by CONI.

Sports associations and clubs, registered in the National Register of Amateur Sports Activities, which carry out non-professional activities and participate in the top-flight national leagues.

The application must be signed by the legal representative of the sports organisation.

The grant application must be submitted using the editable form provided by the local authority and sent as a static PDF or JPG file to the certified email addressserv.sport@pec.provincia.tn.it.

For contributions exceeding 150,000 euros, the Office must obtain the anti-Mafia information required under Articles 91 and 92 of Legislative Decree No. 159 of 6 September 2011 “Code of Anti-Mafia Laws and Preventive Measures, as well as new provisions on anti-Mafia documentation”.

The grant is awarded in accordance with Regulation (EU) No. 2831/2023 of the Commission of 13 December 2023 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to ‘de minimis’ aid, provided that the sports organisation also carries out initiatives to promote and encourage youth participation in sport.

The new aid granted must not cause the beneficiaries concerned to exceed the ceiling of a total of 300,000 euros in funding over the previous three years, in accordance with Commission Regulation (EU) No. 2831/2023 of 13 December 2023 on the application of Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to ‘de minimis’ aid.

1. An application form completed in full, dated and signed.
2. A descriptive report on the planned professional sporting activity or top-flight competition, dated and signed.
3. A programme of activities to promote and encourage participation in sport, which the club undertakes to implement, dated and signed.
4. A financial plan relating to the proposed professional or top-flight sporting activity, dated and signed.
5. Information notice pursuant to Articles 13 and 14 of EU Regulation No 679 of 2016, dated and signed.
6. A photocopy of the applicant’s identity document, if the application is signed by hand on a scanned document and not in the presence of the relevant member of staff.

Applications for funding must be submittedbetween 1 and 30 November each year.

It must relate to the sporting season in which the activity for which the grant is sought takes place and which ends in the year following that in which the application is submitted.