Sport & business

From Credito Sportivo plafond of 250 million for public sports facilities

New 'Sport Mission Commune' call brings to 954 million the total funds made available to local authorities over the past four years

by Marco Bellinazzo

10 March 2026

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

With the launch yesterday of the new 'Sport Missione Comune' call for proposals, the Istituto per il Credito Sportivo e Culturale (Icsc) strengthens its 2025-2030 strategy of investments in public facilities. The ceiling for 2026 is 250 million euros and brings to 954 million the total funds made available to local authorities by the Icsc in the last four years. Disbursements amounted to EUR 194 million in 2023, EUR 244 million in 2024, and EUR 266 million in 2025.

The call is open not only to municipalities, but also to Unions, Metropolitan Cities, Provinces and Regions, which can submit applications until 30 September 2026.

On a strictly financial level, the plafond is characterised by two levers that amplify its attractiveness: on the one hand, the zeroing of charges on loans for up to ten years; on the other, the possibility of extending the duration of repayment plans up to 25 years, diluting the budgetary commitment and favouring the economic-financial sustainability of even the largest interventions.

As far as the scope is concerned, it ranges from the construction of new facilities (greenfield) to the expansion and retrofitting of existing facilities (brownfield), including school gyms, with coverage of the increased costs resulting from increased material prices. In addition to the subsidised loan, the Institute for Sports and Cultural Credit offers administrations an integrated package that combines a total interest rate reduction with a Sroi (Social Return on Investment) assessment and an ESG rating associated with the investment.

'New realisations, regeneration, redevelopment, and the reduction of territorial gaps are the main aims of the new 250-million plafond,' emphasises Icsc's managing director, Antonella Baldino. We have two strategic priorities: on the one hand, to enhance the contribution of sport to the sustainable transition of local communities, promoting interventions for the accessibility and energy efficiency of facilities, and favouring soft mobility models, starting with cycling; on the other hand, to support the balanced growth of the country with particular attention to the most fragile areas and the South, where the need for investment in sports infrastructure is higher and the potential for social impact more significant'.

That of the Icsc is a real industrial plan for sports facilities, which integrates with the main national measures, from regional calls to the interventions of the NRP. In particular, it is complementary to the programmes promoted by the Regions, through mixed financing mechanisms, which strengthen the financial leverage, guaranteeing the full coverage of the investments, and it complements the measures proposed by the Department of Sport and Sport and Health, such as the 'Sport and Suburbs' call and the Pnrr intervention lines, multiplying the effectiveness of public resources thanks to co-financing schemes that contribute to the closing of the financial plans.

"This logic makes it possible to maximise the effectiveness of sports, environmental and social policies," Baldino continues, "Within the framework of its financing activities in support of local authorities, the Institute has a dual role, as a promoter of public-private partnerships and as a project incubator, working alongside public administrations to define quality, sustainable and bankable initiatives.

The ambition is to activate total investments of more than EUR 600 million this year, mobilising more than double the resources directly committed, with a target leverage effect of more than 2x.

In 2025, for example, more than 300 projects were financed (a total of EUR 140 million in the North, EUR 64 million in the Centre and EUR 62 million in the South) with an investment multiplier of 2.4x: each euro disbursed, in short, activated additional resources that more than doubled the investment capacity of local administrations.

Also in 2o25, every euro invested in sports infrastructure generated more than five euros of measurable social benefits - from savings on healthcare expenditure to reductions in crime and school dropout rates - with a total economic value estimated at around three billion euros.