Each confederation will be able to request a maximum of R$200,000 (£31,600/$40,000/€35,400) from COB to use until December 31. 

They will have to show evidence of an "urgent and duly proven need" for the money, with the fund set to be used to combat the coronavirus pandemic through the purchase of tests and PPE equipment or in sports and administrative projects, such as the payment of suppliers, taxes and rents.

The move has been criticised, however, as it takes place in an election year, with COB President Paulo Wanderley Teixeira seeking re-election in November. 

Alberto Murray Neto, COB Ethics Commission President from 2018 until January, is set to run against Wanderley and is among those to question the payments. 

"If there was money available, it should have been budgeted for the confederations well before and not just in the pre-election period," he said, as reported by Olhar Olímpico.

Murray Neto, grandson of former International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice-president Sylvio de Magalhães Padilha, is one of the biggest critics of corruption within Brazilian sport.

He served on the COB Board until 2008 when he was removed following his increasingly vocal criticism of the organisation's spending and conduct, and also voiced his concerns to officials and the media about former COB President Carlos Nuzman, who has now been charged with corruption. 

When announcing his departure from the role of COB Ethics Commission President, Murray Neto said that he strongly disagreed with the way in which Wanderley led "the change of by-laws, which led to major setbacks in governance and ethics."

Sami Arap, who replaced Murray Neto on the Ethics Commission, is also reportedly interested in running to become COB President this year. 

The fund for national confederations was revealed at the same time it was announced that around 200 Brazilian athletes, divided into groups, are set to be sent to Europe for training between July and December.

COB will pay for athletes tickets, accommodation and meals over a six month period.

Funding for the overseas training will be covered by the COB's Olympic Preparation Programme, with R$15 million (£2.36 million/$3 million/€2.66 million) allocated.

Brazil is currently the second worst hit country by the coronavirus, with more than 618,000 cases and more than 34,000 deaths.