https://www.sportanddev.org/latest/news/sportanddev-welcomes-first-call-...
The Global Sport Impact Fund (GSIF) is led by the Coalition for Sustainable Development through Sport (Coalition), a multi-stakeholder initiative bringing together pubic development finance institutions and global partners to scale the role of sport for development (SFD).
The GSIF builds on the pledges to invest USD 10 billion in sport made by the Coalition and other partners at the Summit on Sport for Sustainable Development, on the eve of Paris 2024.
The call for expressions of interest seeks to identify a first pool of eligible projects for initial investment. To be considered, projects must demonstrate a credible revenue-generation model. They cannot rely exclusively on grant-based income and must involve a level of co-fi png, gif, jpg, jpeg. nancing.
sportanddev welcomes and supports the GSIF
The International Platform on Sport and Development (sportanddev) welcomes the Fund and urges the Coalition to share this opportunity widely so that it reaches those who need it the most, including civil society and community-based actors working at grassroots level.
sportanddev made this call publicly at the Finance in Common Summit (FiCS) in early 2025.
This is even more critical during the global aid crisis which has affected sport for development.
The GSIF is being structured as a blended finance impact fund, specifically designed to de-risk and finance high-impact SFD projects through a strategic combination of concessional debt instruments, guarantees, and targeted technical assistance.
Confused about all the financial jargon? Download the financial jargon cheat sheet (PDF).
What projects are eligible?
a) Inclusive community sports infrastructures: Projects involving the creation or rehabilitation of sports facilities that are at least partially accessible to the public
b) Human Capital development initiatives: Projects involving the development of residential or semi residential academies that integrate formal education with structured sports training, as well as vocational training programs, life-skills curricula, and professional certification initiatives designed to strengthen the SFD talent pipeline and ecosystem.
c) Multifunction sport and wellness complexes: Projects involving the establishment or upgrade of urban or peri-urban hubs that combine sport infrastructure with a broader ecosystem of community-oriented services.
d) Community-based sport for development programs: Projects involving the design and delivery of structured programs that leverage sport as a tool for social transformation, typically implemented by NGOs, grassroots organizations, or community networks.
Projects must request an investment amount from the Fund of either:
o Between EUR 500,000 and EUR 1.5 million for a broad range of initiatives, including pilot projects and targeted scale-up operations.
o Between EUR 1.5 million and EUR 5 million mainly for, but not limited to, infrastructure-based initiatives or interventions with a broader ecosystem or territorial scope.
Apply now
Proposals must meet eligibility criteria around six dimensions: strategic alignment, project maturity, impact potential, geographic relevance, financial structure, and risk profile.
sportanddev continues to engage with the Coalition and partners and share information so that actors in the SFD ecosystem are aware and can benefit from the GSIF and other opportunities.
