SWEDEN
Capital: Stockholm | Population: 10 million
Lead body for sport development: Swedish Sports Confederation
| Government Support | B |
| Elite Sport Rank | 12 |
| Elite Sport Rank Per Capita | 6 |
| Youth Sport Participation Grade | B+ |
Housed within the Ministry of Health & Social Affairs, the Ministry of Sport is the agency responsible for sport policy. The Ministry works closely with the Swedish Sports Confederation (RF), an umbrella organization that includes more than 70 National Sport Federations and 1,000 District Sport Federations representing 20,000 clubs. The RF is responsible for supporting, leading, and coordinating the Swedish sports movement on national and international issues. The RF is guided by a federal sports policy, Strategy 2025, which aims to make “Swedish sports the best in the world” at all levels.
The elite sport movement in Sweden is organized by the Swedish Olympic Committee. The Swedish Olympic Committee (SOC) is the supreme authority for Olympic matters and is responsible for the recruitment, training, and oversight of national teams. Elite athletes train at a world-class national training facility outside of Stockholm called Bosön. In recent years, the spending on elite sport has increased dramatically with a greater emphasis on attaining medals. For the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, the SOC has set a target of 20 overall medals with five medals being gold.
Sweden’s national strategy is guided by values: (1) joy and community, (2) democracy and participation in governance, (3) everyone’s right to participate, and (4) fair play. The clubs are predominately run by volunteers and are designed to serve children, young people, adults, and the elderly with sport and physical activity opportunities. Swedish sport has adopted the motto “as many as possible, for as long as possible.” The belief is more Olympic success will occur if sport is an inherent part of Swedish values and life goals.
Government financial support for sports in Sweden amounts to more than SEK 2 billion or approximately $187 million USD and is divided into three parts: (a) organizational support for the Swedish Sports Confederation and the national sports federations; (b) subsidies to local sports clubs based on the extent of their activities for children and adolescents; and (c) various grants to sport federations and local clubs for time-limited and earmarked development projects. National government funding to sport is largely drawn from tax revenues but has also for brief periods been tied to state-controlled gambling and the national lottery. Additional government support comes from municipalities (an estimated SEK 10 billion or $935 million USD annually), mainly in the form of publicly funded facilities and grants to local clubs.
Reports of abuse and advice on safeguarding issues are directed to the Sports Ombudsman, which consists of two employees and resides within the Swedish Sports Confederation. An anonymous whistleblower site has also been created to report issues via the web with follow-up action under an anonymous identity.
