With the introduction of the National Sports Governance Bill in Lok Sabha on Wednesday, India has taken a big step towards joining powers like the USA, UK, China, and Japan which have laws in place for streamlined administrative set-ups.
The bill, once it becomes an act, will complete a journey that started back in 2011 when the then Sports Minister Ajay Maken began his push for a legislation to set some benchmarks for the sports administrators.
The mostly long-serving administrators were and still are often accused of indulging in power struggles, infighting, financial misappropriation and showing a distinct lack of intent to overcome any of these issues.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW! But with the new bill, accountability will be in place through a National Sports Board, a National Sports Tribunal and the National Sports Election Panel.
All of this took shape over months of dialogue that current Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya undertook with stakeholders, soon after taking charge last year.
Once the bill was finalised, Mandaviya gave due credit to Maken, his political opponent from the Congress party, for "doing good work in shaping the National Sports Code, 2011" which was in operation till now.
"The National Sports Development Code of India, 2011 established good governance practices for sports bodies, essential for healthy development of sports in the country," stated the objectives of the new bill.
Here's a look at the timeline of how the code turned into a bill with significant changes.
The Journey
- In 2011, the Ministry prepared Draft National Sports Development Bill and placed it before Cabinet for approval. However, it was met with vehement opposition due to strict capping of age and tenure for administrators.
- In July 2013, the Ministry prepared a revised Draft National Sports Development Bill and placed it in public domain to invite suggestions and comments. However, this Bill was not pursued and a year later, the Delhi High Court upheld the Sports Code 2011.
- In 2015, a Working Group was constituted for re-drafting of National Sports Development Code, 2011. But the inclusion of Indian Olympic Association top brass in this group was challenged in the Delhi High Court as a case of conflict of interest.
- In 2017, a Committee was constituted under then sports secretary Injeti Srinivas, to prepare the '(Draft) National Code for Good Governance in Sports, 2017'. Olympic gold medal-winning shooter Abhinav Bindra, and other sports greats like Anju Bobby George, and Prakash Padukone, along with then then IOA head Narinder Batra were among the members in the committee.
- The Draft Sports Code was also challenged in the Delhi High Court, which ordered that committee's report be submitted to it in a sealed cover.
- In 2019, the Ministry constituted an Expert Committee under Justice (Retd.) Mukundakam Sharma to review the Draft Sports Code 2017 and "suggest measures for making it acceptable to all the stakeholders".
- That same year, the Delhi High Court stayed the constitution of this committee, an order that is in effect till date.
- In October 2024, the Draft National Sports Governance Bill was released to the public for comments and suggestions. There were extensive consultation sessions held with the IOA, the National Sports Federations, athletes, coaches, legal experts and even private bodies that are involved in athlete management. The bill was also shared with the International Olympic Committe and International Federations including World Athletics, FIFA, and the International Hockey Federation (FIH) among others.
The ministry received "over 700 responses" as part of the feedback from various stakeholders, including general public before it finally made its way to the Parliament.
The differences with Sports Code
- Age Cap: While the Sports Code capped the age of administrators at 70, the new bill allows an office-bearer to complete his/her tenure if they were less than 70 at the time of filing nominations. A further relaxation of another five years has been made for contesting elections if the international statutes and byelaws allow for it in the concerned sports body.
- Tenure: The Sports Code allowed three terms with a cooling off period after two terms for the President and two terms for Treasurer and Secretary. The new sports bill allows office-bearers (President, Secretary General and Treasurer) to serve three consecutive terms of a maximum of 12 years and remain eligible for election to the Executive Committee after a cooling off period. "This has been done to ensure continuity and also to keep competent people within the system," a sports ministry source said.
- Executive Committee: The sports code had no provision for mandatory women's representation in the committee whose strength was capped at 15. The new bill mandates that at least four members of the EC must be women along with two sportspersons of outstanding merit.
- Regulatory Body: The sports code had no provisions for a regulatory body to oversee NSFs, leaving the power to recognise or derecognise in the hands of the sports ministry. But the sports governance bill outlines the creation of a National Sports Board which will fulfill this role.
- The National Sports Tribunal, which will adjudicate sporting disputes, the National Sports Election Panel to oversee polls in NSFs and the Ethics Commission were not a part of the Sports Code. All these bodies will have a significant role to play once the bill becomes an act. PTI
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