As part of the recommendations from the Egypt 2026 Forum, the Ministry of Sports has launched the "Masar" project aimed at protecting talents.
As part of the implementation of presidential directives regarding youth and sports during the Egypt 2026 Forum, the Ministry of Youth and Sports has begun concrete steps to launch the "Path... from Discovery to Post-Retirement" project. This initiative aims to create a comprehensive system that ensures financial, social, and professional stability for athletes, enhances their sense of belonging, and maintains national investment in discovering and developing talents.
The project addresses the gap between the achievements of Egyptian athletes and the stability and quality of life they receive. It offers a comprehensive set of programs for accessible financing, housing, job opportunities, vocational training, insurance, and medical care, ensuring continuous support throughout various stages of an athlete's career, from talent discovery and preparation to competition and achievement, and finally to post-retirement.
Mohamed Nabiel: The project aims for a secure future for athletes
In this context, Mohamed Nabiel, the Minister of Youth and Sports, stated that the "Path" project aims to secure a safe and stable future for Egyptian athletes, as they are a key element of Egypt's soft power. He emphasized that protecting national talents goes beyond discovering and preparing them for competition and achieving championships; it also includes providing the essential components for stability and a decent life throughout their sports careers and beyond.
The project includes launching a good financing program in collaboration with banks and national institutions, prioritizing funding that helps athletes build sustainable income sources. Additionally, a social housing program will be launched in cooperation between the Ministries of Youth and Sports and Housing to provide housing units for distinguished athletes in their respective governorates, as well as job opportunities for sports champions through the private sector, national companies, and major economic institutions, based on their levels of sports achievement and in coordination with relevant authorities while studying labor market needs and legal frameworks.
Activating the Egyptian Sports Support Fund
The project also includes activating the Egyptian Sports Support Fund and launching vocational training programs in collaboration between the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the National Training Academy, covering areas such as management, sports training, marketing, entrepreneurship, languages, and professional skills. This will enhance athletes' ability to integrate into the labor market and build stable career paths after retirement.
To enhance protection and sustainability, the project aims to launch a program to protect athletes from the risks of injuries and sudden death while practicing sports, in collaboration with the Financial Supervisory Authority and life insurance companies, to provide financial protection in cases of injuries that lead to disability or early retirement, along with medical care for injuries and accidents. Additionally, it aims to increase the financial allocations for the Ministry of Youth and Sports to meet the needs of national teams and player incentives.
The Minister of Youth and Sports also noted that the "Path" project focuses on addressing several challenges facing athletes, such as income instability, limited social protection and housing coverage, lack of clear career paths after retirement, weak links between sports achievement and job opportunities, as well as the fragmentation of benefits and incentives among different entities. There is a need for clear, fair, and transparent criteria for distributing support to ensure that care reaches sports talents according to their needs and levels of achievement.
The project also aims to enhance coordination between the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the Ministries of Education, Technical Education, Higher Education and Scientific Research, all federations, clubs, banks, housing authorities, and relevant companies and institutions. It seeks to build a unified system to monitor the athlete's journey, with an emphasis on early intervention to identify the needs of talents and address challenges that may lead them to emigrate or change their sports nationality, thereby preserving the fruits of national investment in discovering and developing players.
Mohamed Nabiel stated that through this system, the "Path" project aims to transition from providing support linked to championships and medals to a sustainable care model that extends across various stages of an athlete's life, linking sports achievement with social stability, economic opportunities, and career prospects. This will enhance the ability of Egyptian sports to retain its talents and benefit from their capabilities and achievements.
