Vale and the Brazilian Olympic Committee have entered into a partnership for the Olympic cycle through Los Angeles 2028.
The Brazilian Olympic Committee, known by its Portuguese acronym COB, and the mining company Vale announced on May 15, 2026, in Rio de Janeiro a strategic partnership expanding financial and institutional support for Brazilian sport in the current Olympic cycle. According to COB’s announcement, the agreement was presented at the Time Brasil Training Center, within the Maria Lenk aquatic park complex, and the support is conceived as a combination of investment in social transformation, athlete development, and high-performance sporting results. The partnership extends until the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, placing Vale among the more important commercial partners of the Brazilian Olympic movement during the preparation period for the next Summer Games.
The agreement was signed at a time when COB is seeking to position itself as an organization that invests not only in the final phase of Olympic preparations, but also in the broader system of sports development. According to the committee’s official statement, Vale’s support should cover the entire sporting pathway, from involving children and young people in organized activities to creating the conditions for appearances at the largest international competitions. In this way, the partnership is presented as part of the concept of a “sporting nation,” that is, the idea that elite results cannot be separated from access to sport in local communities, schools, clubs, and development programs.
The announcement of the partnership is linked in time to activities surrounding Corrida Time Brasil, a COB event held on May 17, 2026, in Rio de Janeiro. According to information from the committee, the signing took place during the distribution of race starter kits, which gave the event an additional promotional and symbolic dimension. In this way, the new sponsorship arrangement was presented not only as a business agreement, but also as part of a broader effort to bring the Olympic brand closer to the public through recreational and community sporting events.
COB’s official announcement states that Vale president Gustavo Pimenta, Brazilian Olympic Committee president Marco La Porta, and Ginga, the mascot of the Brazilian Olympic team, appeared at the presentation. Such a presentation format shows that the partnership has a dual function: on the one hand financial and developmental, and on the other communicational, because it connects the corporate sponsor with the national Olympic identity and the emotion that sport creates among fans and participants. In the Brazilian context, in which Olympic sports often depend on a combination of public mechanisms, private funds, and the work of sports federations, such visibility can be important for the stability of the entire system.
According to the sports portal ge, the total value of the contract was not publicly disclosed, but it was stated that the investment is being carried out through a mixed model, through direct company funds and resources linked to Brazil’s Federal Sports Incentive Law. The same source states that the incentive-based portion of the investment reaches 7 million Brazilian reais. Since COB’s official announcement does not state the total amount of the contract, the financial scope of the partnership beyond that incentive-based portion remains only partially known to the public.
When presenting the partnership, COB emphasized that Vale’s support will be directed at several levels of the sports system. This includes initiatives for children and young people, educational programs, support for competitions, and preparation of athletes for elite performance. Transforma, the Brazilian Olympic Committee’s Olympic education program, is mentioned in particular; it uses sport as a tool for promoting values, participation, and social inclusion. In such a model, sport is not only a competitive activity, but also a platform for learning, discipline, health, cooperation, and connecting communities.
Vale president Gustavo Pimenta stated, according to COB’s announcement, that the company is expanding its commitment to Brazilian sport in partnership with the Olympic committee. He emphasized that support for sports entities and projects corresponds to Vale’s corporate purpose, which the company describes through improving lives and transforming the future. Such statements fit into a broader trend in which large companies link sports sponsorships with social impact, presence in local communities, and their own sustainability programs, but the concrete results of such partnerships depend on implementation, transparency, and the availability of programs to end users.
COB president Marco La Porta assessed, according to the same statement, that the committee needs to be connected with major partners and that Vale, through its presence in different Brazilian regions, can contribute to creating opportunities. La Porta described the new phase of cooperation as a natural continuation of the relationship that began at the 2025 Youth Games. His statement indicates that COB does not view the partnership as an isolated sponsorship contract, but as a longer-term relationship that should accompany the development of athletes from younger categories toward senior and Olympic sport.
One of the key elements of the partnership relates to the possibility of expanding sports programs into the country’s interior. According to COB, Vale operates in five Brazilian federal states: Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Espírito Santo, Pará, and Maranhão. These are areas that include large urban centers, but also local communities far from traditional sporting and financial centers. Precisely such communities often face a shortage of sports infrastructure, difficult access to professional coaching, and a weaker ability to attract sponsorship funds.
At this point, the partnership is especially important because it relies on the company’s geographical presence. If the announced model is implemented through local programs, sports schools, educational activities, and support for clubs or organizations, it could make access to sport easier for children and young people who otherwise do not have the same conditions as their peers in larger cities. In its official statement, COB links the partnership with the democratization of access to sport, but the real reach will be assessable only through concrete programs, the number of participants included, the territorial distribution of investment, and publicly available implementation results.
Vale has for years acted as an important financier of sports projects in Brazil through the system of incentive laws. According to data published by COB, over the last five years the company has directed around 560 million Brazilian reais through the Federal Sports Incentive Law into initiatives in the areas where it operates. During that period, according to the same source, 571 projects were developed, from which 1,908 initiatives emerged. In 2025 alone, according to COB, the amount reached 191.5 million reais, with 175 projects and 469 initiatives.
Brazil’s Federal Sports Incentive Law is an important framework for understanding such investments. According to Brazil’s Ministry of Sport, this mechanism allows funds from tax incentives to be directed into approved sports and parasports projects across the country. The idea is that part of the funds that would otherwise end up as tax revenue should be allocated to projects with publicly defined sporting goals, under conditions prescribed by the state. Such a model can be especially important for sports and programs that do not have a strong commercial base, television visibility, or market appeal comparable to the most popular professional sports.
In November 2025, the Brazilian Senate reported that the Lei de Incentivo ao Esporte became a permanent public policy after the sanctioning of a supplementary law. According to the Senate, this replaced the previous temporary model with a more lasting framework for sports incentives. For sports organizations, this means greater predictability in project planning, while for companies such as Vale it creates a clearer institutional framework for long-term sponsorship. At the same time, such a system requires transparency from sponsors and beneficiaries of funds, because tax-incentivized investments also have a public dimension.
The partnership between COB and Vale can therefore also be read as an example of the increasingly close connection between Olympic sport, private capital, and publicly regulated incentives. In an ideal scenario, such a model helps athletes and local projects that could not develop programs without incentives. In practice, however, its value depends on how much the funds are directed toward the real needs of the sports system, how measurable the social effects are, and how clearly results are reported.
According to COB’s official information, Vale already supports a number of sports initiatives and institutions. Among them are the Tiago Camilo Institute, the Anderson Varejão Institute, and Escola Zico 10, as well as locally important projects such as Força Feminina in Espírito Santo, Futebol de Rua pela Educação in Pará and Minas Gerais, Projeto Saúde Não Tem Idade in Pará, and Pernas pra que te Quero in Maranhão. Such a list shows that the company does not limit its investments only to the Olympic elite, but seeks to distribute them also to projects of recreation, education, local development, and inclusion of more vulnerable groups.
Vale’s official pages also highlight sports sponsorships as part of a broader strategy of investment in social impact. The company states that it supports projects related to sport, culture, and knowledge, and among sports examples it particularly highlights the partnership with the Brazilian Gymnastics Confederation. According to the company’s information, that cooperation supports the work of centers where around 3,000 children aged five to ten train gymnastics. This data gives broader context to the new agreement with COB, because it shows that Vale already has a portfolio of investments directed toward the sports development of children and young people.
In its statement, COB also singled out five Estações Conhecimento, or centers that connect sport, education, culture, and civic participation. They are located in Arari in Maranhão, Brumadinho in Minas Gerais, Marabá and Tucumã in Pará, and Serra in Espírito Santo. According to COB, these centers are covered by the mechanisms of the sports incentive law and serve to expand access to sporting activities among children and young people. In 2025, according to the same source, they covered more than 9,500 people, among whom there were 6,500 children and adolescents.
The Olympic cycle toward Los Angeles 2028 comes for Brazil after the Paris 2024 Games, which, according to COB data, were Brazil’s most successful edition by total number of medals. On its official website, COB states that Brazil won 20 medals in Paris, including three gold, seven silver, and ten bronze medals. Such a result creates higher expectations for the next cycle, but also the need for stable funding, professional infrastructure, and continuity of work across sports.
Precisely for this reason, the partnership with a large private sponsor has importance that goes beyond promotional value itself. High performance in Olympic sports usually requires multi-year investment in coaches, diagnostics, medical care, international competitions, equipment, and preparation camps. At the same time, developing a new generation of athletes requires a stable base from which talents can move into the system of clubs, federations, and national teams. If the announced funds and programs are consistently directed at both levels, the partnership could help connect broader youth participation with the demands of elite sport.
The sports portal ge described the agreement as a partnership that foresees investments in social projects, athlete development, and Olympic preparation during the cycle until Los Angeles 2028. Such a description corresponds to the messages from COB’s official statement, but also leaves open the question of public elaboration of individual programs. For the sports public, it will be important to monitor whether the support will be reflected evenly across different sports and regions or whether it will be concentrated on already recognizable projects with greater visibility.
The new partnership confirms that Brazilian Olympic sport is entering a period in which commercial partners, tax incentives, and socially oriented projects are increasingly interconnected. For COB, the agreement with Vale is an opportunity to strengthen the financial foundation for the Olympic cycle and expand programs beyond the usual centers. For Vale, it is a continuation of the strategy through which the company seeks to connect its business operations with investments in local communities, sports infrastructure, and projects presented as socially beneficial.
At the same time, such partnerships also carry the obligation of clear public reporting. Since part of the investment includes tax incentive mechanisms, the public interest relates not only to the marketing effect of the sponsorship, but also to how much the projects will actually expand access to sport, improve the working conditions of athletes, and create measurable results in communities. The announcement from Rio de Janeiro is therefore only the beginning of a process that will be assessed through implementation until 2028, and not only through the ceremonial announcement and messages about the transformative power of sport.
Sources:
- Comitê Olímpico do Brasil – official announcement on the COB and Vale partnership, the duration of the sponsorship, statements by leaders, territorial reach, and previous sports investments (link)
- Comitê Olímpico do Brasil – official information on the Brazilian Olympic Committee, the organization’s role, the Time Brasil Training Center, and Brazil’s Olympic medals (link)
- ge / Globo – report on the partnership until Los Angeles 2028, the mixed investment model, and the incentive-based portion of the financing (link)
- Ministério do Esporte do Brasil – explanation of the Federal Sports Incentive Law and the way tax-incentivized funds are directed into sports and parasports projects (link)
- Senado Federal do Brasil – information that the Lei de Incentivo ao Esporte became a permanent public policy in 2025 (link)
- Vale – official information on the company’s sports sponsorships and examples of existing projects, including gymnastics centers for children (link)