More than 45 countries on all continents have included in their respective constitutions that Sport, Physical Education and Physical Activity are considered a right for their citizens. But that is not the case in Chile, where the word ‘sport’ is only mentioned once, in Article 118, and only to allude to the possibility and not the duty of municipalities to associate and promote sport through legal personalities.
For this reason, 131 organizations submitted a formal request to the constituent conventions for sport, physical activity and body culture to be qualified as a fundamental right in the new Magna Carta.
The letter, promoted by athletes, academics, lawyers and all kinds of professionals linked to sport, also ask to guarantee in the new fundamental text various “institutional mechanisms that allow to ensure a greater endowment of public resources in a matter that, far from generating expenses, should be understood as an investment aimed at promoting a better quality of life for the entire population”.
During this week, the representatives of these sports groups came to the doors of the former Congress to express their request. In that instance, Claudio Basilio, representative of The Movement for Sport, said that “the justification for this recognition is based on multiple factors, among them, the high rates of obesity and physical inactivity that occur in a transversal way in Chilean society.” Basilio added that the problem affects “more deeply women and socio-economically vulnerable populations.”
Meanwhile, Damaris Abarca, constituent of District 15, stressed that “in this new Chile” sport, physical culture and playfulness must be at the center. “We are going to continue in this work in conjunction with the social organizations, that we push it from the different sectors is fundamental, finally the Convention cannot be isolated,” said the chess player and conventional constituent for the list I approve Dignity.
“What we ask most of the 155 constituents from all sectors is to recognize the social right of sport in the Constitution, and also the role that we play popular organizations in the promotion of sport,” said the representative of Constitución Alba, Félix Calderón.
For his part, Daniel Saint-Jean, representative of Sport for the Constitution, remarked that “it is our desire that sport be enshrined in the Constitution. We are now doing so in a much broader process, bringing in different civil society groups.”
“You are the people who will be able to recognize sport in a democratic and equitable way, you represent all citizens to build a Chile with greater well-being and development. For this reason, it is imperative that our Constitution establish a view oriented to the quality of life and well-being,” reads the letter left by the organizations to the constituents.
Look at the statement here.
