Today, only 38% of rural schools have their own sports halls. At the same time, about 60% of schools with such halls do not meet the minimum standards.
The process of school optimization, especially in rural areas, has led to a reduction in the number of gyms. This has limited the access of students and amateur athletes to adequate conditions for training and physical activity.
There are only 25 swimming pools functioning in the country, of which 18 are located in Chisinau, in more than 20 districts they are completely absent.
A separate limiting factor is the high cost of organizing international competitions. For example, organizing a European Championship in an Olympic discipline can cost about 10 million lei, while the total budget distributed among sports federations in Moldova amounted to about 57 million lei in 2024 and 87 million lei in 2025.
According to the finance ministry, 381.9 million lei was allocated to the sports and physical culture sector in 2021, 458.4 million lei in 2022, 592.2 million lei in 2023 and 629.4 million lei in 2024. Overall, the budget has grown by almost 80 percent over the four years, but much of this growth has been offset by inflation and the rising cost of construction materials and sports equipment. Despite the formal increase in allocations, its pace remains insufficient to cover the real needs of the sector.
Sport 2030 Strategy
Against this backdrop, the Ministry of Education and Training has developed the “Sport 2030” Development Strategy for 2026-2028. On Wednesday, April 22, the government will consider a program for its implementation. The document aims at defining strategic directions for the development of physical education and sport, ensuring increased access of the population to sports activities, modernizing the infrastructure and supporting Olympic sport.
For the 2026-2028 period, the total expenses for the strategy’s implementation are estimated at about 472.9 million lei.
The authors believe that investments in sports infrastructure can stimulate economic growth, as sports tourism can provide about 2% of the country’s GDP and the organization of sports events can attract more than 50,000 tourists annually.
