Sports

The Ministry of Education, Science and Sport shapes Lithuania’s sports policy for high-performance sports and physical activity. The State aims to create conditions for high-performance athletes to prepare for and participate in competitions, increase physical activity of the society, promote different sports, discover children with exceptional athletic abilities, and educate high-performance athletes who will replace the existing ones.

High-performance sports

The State budget funds are used to finance the following activities of non-governmental organisations and sports federations that lead the Olympic, Paralympic sports movements, those for visually- or hearing-impaired, mobility- or intellectually disabled persons and students in Lithuania: 

•    training of athletes and their participation in international sports competitions; 

•    organising of sports events; 

•    promoting of sports; 

•    implementation of the World Anti-Doping Code, prevention of brutal spectator behaviour and combating the manipulation of sports competitions. 

The State funds about 60 national sports federations and 5 sports organisations for people with disabilities every year. 

High-performance athletes are awarded one-time bonuses from the State for their high performance in international sports competitions, as well as monthly state scholarships to be paid for a specified period of time (up to four years) and social guarantees (health insurance, sickness, pension and maternity social insurance) ensured from state resources. Athletes who have performed particularly high are awarded rents after completing their sports careers. 

There is a representative of athletes who acts to ensure and defend the rights of athletes, and to advise athletes. The representative is an independent official whose purpose is to oversee the implementation of athletes’ rights and obligations related to the functions performed by sports organisations referred to in the Law on Sports. 

The State budget funds are used finance a program for improving the sports excellence of students at sports gymnasiums. 

To ensure the safety and health of people in sports, the State regulates the qualifications of coaches. The Law on Sports establishes qualification requirements for coaches.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the country’s sports organisations are helping Ukrainian athletes, as much as possible, to continue their sports activities, host camps and help them train in Lithuania. The Ministry of Education, Science and Sport compensates part for the costs incurred by Lithuanian organisations in helping Ukrainian athletes. Relevant information about Lithuania’s position could be found here. 

Physical activity

The State promotes physical activity in the society by funding regional and national projects for physical activity. Invitations for project developers to tender are launched every year. 

To create conditions for members of the society to be physically active, the State funds projects for improvement of sports infrastructure. Project developers are also invited to funding competitions every year. 

The sports policy of the State in high-performance sports and physical activity is implemented by the National Sports Agency. 

Useful links:

• National Sports Agency
• National Olympic Committee of Lithuania
• Lithuanian Paralympic Committee
• Lithuanian Anti-Doping Agency
• Representative of athletes