Increase in insurance activity for sports in Portugal

Insurance activity has been increasing in Portugal, namely in sports insurance, with professional teams experiencing a growing need to sign this type of contract.

In these cases, it is usually necessary to resort to specialized insurance since, in most professional sports, athletes are exposed to a series of risks that, as they are specific to sporting activities, are rarely covered by conventional insurance policies.

In this regard, the Portuguese Statute for Physical Activity and Sport has introduced a compulsory insurance system for all sports agents enrolled at sports federations. Article 42 of the diploma above explains that this system seeks to “cover the particular risks to which high-performance sportspersons are exposed.”

In turn, the legal regime of compulsory sports insurance came to be defined in Decree-Law no. 10/2009, as amended by Law no. 27/2011. According to article 5(1), the risks cover accidents inherent to the practice of a sports modality resulting from training, sports competitions, and related traveling (both in and out of the national territory).

The obligation to enter into sports insurance contracts is also extended to entities providing sports services, such as entities that promote physical or sporting activities, organizers of sporting events or gatherings, and entities which exploit sporting facilities open to the general public.