Asturias approves grants for female athletes who have been mothers

The Official Gazette of the Principality of Asturias publishes on October 9, 2026, Order CPLD/3/2026, of September 29, by which the Department of Culture, Linguistic Policy, and Sport approves the regulatory bases for a new line of grants destined for women to promote women’s sports. The regulation, signed by the counselor Ana Vanesa Gutiérrez González in Oviedo, establishes grants under a competitive process for female referees, judges, athletes, and high-level and high-performance coaches who have been mothers. The text is published in BOPA no. 196, of October 9, 2026, with the official reference 2026-08014.

The order is based on Article 43.3 of the Constitution and the Law of the Principality of Asturias 5/2022, of June 29, on Physical Activity and Sport, whose Article 5 obliges the Administration to ensure that sports practice is carried out in terms of real equality. The new line was already listed in Annex I of the Strategic Grant Plan of the Department of Culture, Linguistic Policy, and Sport for the 2026-2028 financial years, approved by Resolution of February 4, 2026 (BOPA of February 17, 2026), with the bases pending elaboration. The text complies with Law 38/2003, of November 17, General Law on Subsidies, its Regulations, and Decree 71/1992, of October 29, on the general regime for granting subsidies in Asturias.

Purpose and beneficiaries

The declared purpose is to improve the participation of women in sports, which “is especially compromised after motherhood,” a situation that often marks the end of an elite sporting career. The grants seek to guarantee the continuity of participation in high-level and high-performance competition.

Female referees, judges, athletes, and coaches who, as of the application deadline date for each call, meet these requirements may apply:

• Possess the status of Asturian according to Article 7 of the Statute of Autonomy of the Principality of Asturias at least two years prior to the publication of the call.
• Have become a mother through pregnancy, adoption, or permanent foster care in the three years prior to said publication.
• Hold a valid license for the corresponding season, whether international, national, or from a federation of the Principality of Asturias.

Those who fall under any of the prohibitions of Article 13 of the General Law on Subsidies are excluded.

Amount and evaluation criteria

The grants will be financed from the General Budgets of the Principality of Asturias, and the call for applications will establish the maximum amount and the budget line. The amount will depend on the points obtained, with a maximum of 10, and will be compatible with other aid, income, or resources for the same purpose from any administration or public or private entity, national, of the European Union, or international.

The evaluation criteria, whose specific weighting will be established in the call for applications resolution, are:

• Valid international license or recognition as a high-level athlete, referee, judge, or coach in the previous three years: 10 points.
• Recognition of high performance in the previous three years: 7 points.
• National license: 5 points.
• Asturian territorial license: 3 points.

Merits are not cumulative: only the highest is valued. If the credit is insufficient for all applications that exceed the minimum score, a correction coefficient will be applied to proportionally reduce the amounts.

Deadlines, processing, and payment

The procedure is initiated ex officio through a public call approved by the head of the Department, the summary of which will be published in the BOPA via the National Grants Database. The application period will be at least 10 business days from that publication and may be extended in each call. The correction of defects and the submission of allegations each have 10 days, and the maximum period to resolve and notify is six months from the publication of the call; if this period passes without a resolution, the application may be understood as rejected.

The instructing body will be the Service with competencies in sports promotion, and the evaluation will be the responsibility of an Evaluation Commission chaired by the head of the General Directorate competent in physical activity and sports. The payment of grants under 6,010 euros will be made upon the signing of the granting resolution in a single payment, and the requirement to prove tax obligations is waived when the amount per beneficiary and year does not exceed 3,005.06 euros. The resolution ends the administrative route, and a contentious-administrative appeal may be filed against it before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of the Principality of Asturias within two months, or an optional appeal for reversal within one month. The order enters into force on the day following its publication.

The measure responds to a documented problem within the regulation itself: motherhood as a breaking point for women’s elite sporting careers. On these grounds, Asturias provides legal and budgetary coverage for a line of aid that until now was only planned in the strategic subsidy plan, and which must be specified in each call for applications to effectively reach the beneficiary athletes, referees, judges, and coaches.

Source: Official Gazette of the Principality of Asturias, no. 196 of October 9, 2026, section I. Principality of Asturias (Other Provisions), pp. 1-6 (official reference: 2026-08014).