Bill 198.

Summary.

The bill recognizes participation in sport as a fundamental right to be exercised freely, equally, and throughout life. It covers physical activity, games, recreation, competition, and Indigenous sports. It provides for the State to create conditions for exercising that right, reconcile it with other human rights, and incorporate sport into sustainable development policies. It defines school sport, performance sport, sport for all, federations, sporting activity, and development programs; it also classifies people who practise sport within federations.

The Panamanian Sports Institute (PANDEPORTES) would formulate public policy with the participation of public bodies, private associations, and civil society organizations. Through the National Sports Information Register (Registro Nacional de Información Deportiva), it would administer a system covering disciplines, athletes, organizations, facilities, and suppliers of sports goods and services. The Government Innovation Authority (Autoridad para la Innovación Gubernamental) would coordinate its implementation; access to the data would follow transparency and data protection rules. The National Sports Observatory (Observatorio Nacional del Deporte) would organize and publish that information. The bill provides for programs in workplaces, municipalities, and public spaces, alongside a healthy habits strategy coordinated with the Ministry of Health (Ministerio de Salud) and the Social Security Fund (Caja de Seguro Social). It permits nonfederated associations to hold competitions of that kind and promotes high performance and provincial training centers.

A National Sports Plan would be adopted for each five year governmental term, with strategic planning and an annual operating plan. The Olympic Committee of Panama (Comité Olímpico de Panamá), the Paralympic Committee of Panama (Comité Paralímpico de Panamá), and federations would help develop its competition programs. The bill regulates the status and representative role of the Olympic Committee of Panama under the rules of the International Olympic Committee (Comité Olímpico Internacional), and provides for agreements with PANDEPORTES to fund Olympic preparation and participation. It also sets out the functions of the Paralympic Committee of Panama, subject to the rules of the International Paralympic Committee (Comité Paralímpico Internacional), concerning representation, preparation, registration, and monitoring of athletes with disabilities.

For public administration, it reiterates the duty to formulate sports policy and provides for a satellite account prepared with the National Institute of Statistics and Census of the Office of the Comptroller General (Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censo de la Contraloría General de la República). It makes physical education compulsory in Pre-school, Premedia, and Media education, including ancestral games in intercultural bilingual education. PANDEPORTES and the Ministry of Education (Ministerio de Educación) would coordinate the curriculum, teacher training, and school competitions. Schools would have to establish sports clubs, and the School Sports Games would be held every year.

Sports organizations would generally be private nonprofit bodies; those participating in professional sport would form commercial companies also governed by the Commercial Code (Código de Comercio). The bill regulates voluntary affiliation, legal personality, recognition of governing boards, and PANDEPORTES oversight. It requires management and audit reports, protocols against violence, harassment, and discrimination, gender parity on governing boards, and accounting controls for private funds. The Office of the Comptroller General (Contraloría General de la República) would oversee state resources. It also addresses international sports organizations, community programs, ancestral games, and activities for persons with disabilities, minors, and older adults; it refers to the Family Code (Código de la Familia) for the protection of minors and to existing penalties for animal abuse.

The text regulates national federations’ membership, bylaws, functions, development agreements, and possible withdrawal of recognition from their governing boards. It establishes provincial, district, and corregimiento leagues and clubs, with activity programs and submission of plans and budgets. PANDEPORTES would coordinate the National Sports Games each year. For professional sport, it sets out league functions, contract registration, financial reports, and club shareholder lists, and regulates schools and academies. It creates a sports entities section in the Public Registry and exempts specified notarial and registration procedures from fees.

Finally, it provides for international cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores), paid or school leave for sports representatives, and talent identification programs. It distinguishes high level, high performance, professional, and nonprofessional athletes, and establishes rights to equal treatment, integrity, health, safety, and association. For high level and high performance athletes, it addresses combining sport with study or work, image rights, and medical coverage funded by PANDEPORTES. Its provisions would concern schools, municipalities, sports organizations, employers, insurers, and suppliers of sports services.