"It was approved in the Council of Ministers meeting that determines the allocation of 31.2 million euros to the Olympic and Paralympic Preparation Programme for the Olympic and Paralympic Games - Paris2024," reads a statement from the Secretary of State for Youth and Sport.


The funds for the next Olympic cycle have an increase of 18.4 percent, while in the Paralympics the increase is 32.9 percent, in both cases compared to the Tokyo2020 program.


For these Games, postponed by a year due to the covid-19 pandemic, 18.55 million euros were approved for the Olympic games.


Praising this as a "historic" increase, the Government recalls that the increase in the paralympic preparation "will ensure that for the first time there is an equalisation to the Olympic reality of all conditions of scholarships and sports preparation" for both athletes and technical teams.


"The funds for the Olympic and Paralympic programmes include the amounts already provided for this year, approved by Resolution of December 2021, which are now considered for the implementation of Paris2024," the Government note adds.


This approval "also aims to strengthen the Olympic and Paralympic Hope Programs with a view to participation in the Los Angeles2028 and Brisbane2032 Olympic Games.


The Minister of State and Parliamentary Affairs, responsible for Sports, Ana Catarina Mendes, confirmed to Lusa, on 6 September, an overall budget of 30 million euros, the "largest reinforcement for Olympic preparation".


The amounts applied in the last Games, a total of approximately 30.6 ME in an atypical Olympic cycle and extended to five years already corresponded to significant increases compared to Rio2016, when 16 ME were used for Olympic preparation and 3.8 in the Paralympics.