ABSTRACT
Brazil is a democratic state of law country, with a history of alternation between democratic and dictatorial periods, and intense transformations in recent decades that favoured the guarantee of universal rights, with direct influence on sports/physical activity. Following a brief historical context of Brazilian politics and economy, this chapter presents an overview of policies and practices related to sports/physical activity, focusing on three key sectors: Sports and Leisure, Health and Urban Development. It highlights the recent National Sports Policy as well as promising strategies to address non-communicable diseases. Some political issues are questioned, including the priority given to high performance sports, the legacy from recent mega-events and the lack of integration of sport/physical activity policies across sectors. The chapter concludes with implications for future sports/physical activity policy and practice in the country.
