The article analyzes the theoretical and practical problems of the correlation between centralization and decentralization in the management of physical culture and sports in the Russian Federation. It is shown that against the background of the implementation of the national project "Demography" and the federal project "Sport is the norm of life", the role of the federal level in setting strategic goals, forming a system of indicators and allocating targeted financial resources is increasing, while the main burden on organizing mass sports and sports activities and maintaining infrastructure is actually concentrated at the regional and municipal levels. The conclusion is substantiated that the Russian system of physical culture and sports management has the character of "asymmetric decentralization", in which the declared distribution of powers is accompanied by the actual dominance of the federal center. The directions of optimizing the balance are proposed: the transition to framework regulation with the expansion of programmatic autonomy of regions and municipalities; the development of partnership management mechanisms (government – NGO – business communities); rationalization of the monitoring and reporting system. The implementation of these approaches, according to the author, can increase the territorial equity of access to physical education and sports and ensure a more sustainable achievement of industry policy targets.