Olympic Committee of Portugal

Portugal had an official representative (António de Lencastre) at the IOC, since 9 June 1906, whose proposal came directly from King Carlos I himself, a known sports-lover.[1][2] Nevertheless, the country lacked a proper organisation that would handle exclusively with the logistics, fundings and preparations required for an Olympic participation.[3] In this way, the COP's establishment on 26 October 1909, filled this "institutional hole". However, not everyone regards this date as the official Olympism's date of institution in Portugal. Sources defend the date when António de Lencastre accepted Pierre de Coubertin's offer (9 June 1906) as the real accession date to the Olympic Movement,[1][2] which would make this nation the 10th to do it, not the 13th, as is.[4] An edition of the newspaper "Sports Ilustrado", from May 4, 1912, even claims the COP's foundation on April 30 of that year, that is, three years later than what is the currently recognised date. It is uncertain whether 1912 is the true foundation year, but it is believed that this date was not adopted later on by the COP, so that Portugal would not lose its place on the IOC founding members' list[2]

The COP was developed on the structure of the now-extinct Sociedade Promotora de Educação Física Nacional (English: Society for the National Promotion of Physical Education) whose president, Jaime Mauperrin Santos, became the COP's first president.[3] The primary goal for the committee's creation was to organise a mission to participate at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Sweden. Thus, between 1910 and 1912, the COP promoted the "Games for Olympic preparation", which were a renamed version of the "National Olympic Games".[4] Finally, in 1912 this goal was fulfilled and the Games of the V Olympiad were Portugal's first.[3] On August 14, 1919, the Portuguese Minister of Public Instruction signed a decree, officially recognizing the COP and granting it a subsidy.[5]

In 1925, the COP organised the first "National Athletics Games" and the first "International Sports Games", which only allowed amateurs to take part. The aims of these games were the promotion of sports practice and cultural contact with other competitors, and the motivation of Portuguese athletes to prepare themselves for a participation at the 1928 Summer Olympics.[4] The delegations at the 1932 and 1936 Summer Olympics were smaller than in previous Olympiads because of financial problems to which the government was not sensible. Nevertheless, in Berlin, Portugal conquered its third Olympic medal.

In 1939, during the 39th IOC Session, in London, the Portuguese member suggested the promotion of roller hockey to Olympic sport, however the committee delayed any decision.[6] During World War II, the IOC, taking advantage of Portugal's neutrality, used its national committee as its correspondence transmitter for the other European NOCs.[7] After the war, the relationship between the COP and government became tense when the latter tried to interfere with the NOC's autonomy. As response to COP's "disobedience", state funding was canceled and the committee members had to finance themselves the Olympic participation at the London Games. Surprisingly, this participation was the largest ever and the most rewarding at that time, with two medals and the first silver.[8] The country's participation at the 1960 Games of Rome was unassured because of disagreements inside the COP structure. It was only decided on the last minute with a direct intervention of the IOC president Avery Brundage, on a visit to Lisbon.[9]

In the following four years, the COP had two members elected for the newly created International Olympic Academy (1962) and started publishing its bimonthly magazine "Olimpo" (1964), which still exists.

Despite political pressure and government funding cuts, the COP set up a public fundraising campaign and, with the IOC's support, managed to send a symbolic delegation to the boycotted Moscow Games, thus displaying a strong loyalty to the Olympic values.[4] The participation in the following Games was to be, however, Portugal's best as Carlos Lopes paved his way to victory on the marathon, and the national anthem echoed for the first time inside an Olympic stadium. On October 26, 1984, the IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch visited Portugal to take part in the 75th anniversary's ceremonies of the Portuguese presence in the Olympic Movement. Later that year, the COP celebrated the Movement's 90th anniversary of its foundation in 1894.[10] Three years later, the Portuguese Olympic Academy (Portuguese: Academia Olímpica de Portugal, AOP) is created as an integrated organism of the COP.

After ending its presidencial term, Fernando Lima Bello was elected IOC member for Portugal, in 1989; a position he still exerts currently.[11] He was succeeded on the COP leadership by current president José Vicente de Moura. In 1991, the COP was represented at the first "European Youth Olympic Days" (now called European Youth Olympic Festival, EYOF), held in Brussels. A year later, the committee approved the institution's name changing from Comité Olímpico Português (English: Portuguese Olympic Committee) to the current Comité Olímpico de Portugal.[12]

Since 1909, eleven men have occupied the COP's presidency:[16]

• Jaime Mauperrin Santos (1909–1912)
• António Prestes Salgueiro (1919–1923)
• José Pontes (1924–1956)[17]
• Francisco Nobre Guedes (1957–1968)
• Alexandre Correia Leal (1969–1972)
• Gaudêncio Costa (1973–1976)
• Daniel Sales Grade (1977–1980)
• Fernando Lima Bello (1981–1989)
• José Vicente de Moura (1990–1992)
• Vasco Lynce (1993–1996)
• José Vicente de Moura (1997-current)

According to the statutes approved on the Plenary Assembly of May 7, 1998, the COP's main objectives are:[19]

• Spread, develop and defend the Olympic Movement and sports in general, in compliance with the Olympic Charter;
• Promote taste for sports as a character-building, health-strengthening, environment-defending and social integration-promoting means;
• Fight against forbidden methods and substances use, observing the IOC Medical Code regulations and cooperating with national authorities in the control of those practices;
• Promote the keeping of sporting ethics on competitions and agents relations;
• Take measures regarding the elimination of any sort of discrimination by sexual, race or religious reasons in the practice of sport and in the managing bodies;
• Participate compulsorily at the Olympic Games and organise and manage exclusively the national delegation, being responsible for the actions and behaviours of its members;
• Assign the candidate city to organise the Olympic Games and assure their accomplishment, when they take place on national territory;
• Represent the national sports federations close to the government and official organisms, on the matters of their attributions;
• Promote the spread of Olympism values in sport and physical education teaching programmes at school and university establishments;
• Stimulate and support the training of sports agents;
• Support the activities of the Olympic Academy, Olympic Museum or any other Olympic education and cultural program-devoted institutions related with the Olympic Movement;
• Cooperate with governmental and non-governmental organisms on any sporting activities which do not contradict the Olympic Charter;
• Coordinate the Olympic preparation programs with the federations;
• Participate with public or private entities in funding acquisition and management, to support Olympic preparation and competition-developing programs, directly or through adequate organisms;
• Support the institutionalization of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

In 1925, members from seven national sports federations were invited to become part of the COP's "Technical Council". This act was the first formal relationship between sports federations and a NOC, which would be considered a compulsory action by the IOC, in 1957.[13]

Currently there are 64 sports federations linked to the COP as ordinary members, of which 30 comprise Olympic sports (such as athletics, basketball, fencing, judo, skiing, swimming or wrestling) and 34 supervise non-Olympic sports (such as autosport, chess, golf, roller skating or surfing).[22]

COP has been distinguished throughout its history by both the IOC and the Portuguese government:

• 1968 – Diploma de Mérito Olímpico (Olympic Merit Diploma) – handed to ceasing COP president Francisco Nobre Guedes by the IOC president Avery Brundage; Troféu Molhasses Tear (Molhasses Tear Trophy)– handed to COP member Rodrigo Castro Pereira by the IOC;[23]
• 1984 – Medalha de Mérito Desportivo (Sporting Merit Medal) – handed to the COP banner by Portuguese prime-minister Mário Soares;[10]
• 1989 – Colar de Honra ao Mérito Desportivo (Honour for Sporting Merit Collar) - handed to the Portuguese IOC member Raul Pereira de Castro by Portuguese education minister Roberto Carneiro;[12]
• 1991 – Medalha de Honra ao Mérito Desportivo (Honour for Sporting Merit Medal) – handed by Portuguese education minister Roberto Carneiro to the COP, during its 82nd anniversary;[12]
• 1999 – Colar de Honra ao Mérito Desportivo – handed by the Portuguese government to the COP at the latter's 90th anniversary gala dinner, which was attended by current IOC president Jacques Rogge.[24]

It is also COP's function to distinguish national competitors and sports-related organisations for their contribution to Portuguese sport both internally and internationally. The Olympic Medal Nobre Guedes is COP's most prestigious award for still-active Portuguese sportspeople, having been given every year since 1951.

• Portugal at the Olympics
• ACOLOP
• Lusophony Games

• Official website