Introduction
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has included a few provisions in the new draft sports bill which effectively gives the government the power to regulate sports federations and also intervene in their operations if the government feels that they are being mismanaged or misgoverned. This has sparked off protests from various sports bodies such as the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and its constituent federations that fear that these new guidelines will challenge their autonomy and give the government unrivalled power to meddle or interfere in the running of such organisations.
It should be kept in mind that, should this legislation materialise, India will certainly not be the first country to have some sort of government control in sports administration. A number of countries such as France, China and Australia have sports laws in place which ensure that there is some level of state control in sports. Countries such as U.K. and the U.S. however, do not have any sports law but restrict the role of the state to regulation in a few aspects of sports.
It is the Indian Government’s stand that the draft Sports Bill is an effort to make the national sports federations (NSF’s) accountable to the public and to curb the rampant nepotism and corruption that is in place in most sports organisations in the country. This Bill has been vehemently opposed by the IOA and the NSF’s which contend that these provisions are contrary to the guidelines laid down in the Olympic Charter and also the general principles of autonomy followed by sports federations all over the world.
Draft National Sports (Development) Bill, 2011
The Draft National Sports (Development) Bill, 2011 (Bill), inter alia, has laid down specific guidelines with regards to regulation of the IOA as regards to age and tenure of members of sports organisations and also the regulation of such organisations. The Bill also gives the Government the power to grant or revoke recognition to National Sports Federations (NSF’s).
The IOA is made responsible for the organisation of the National Games once every two years and to recognise NSFs for each Olympic and non-Olympic sport. Also, the IOA has been obligated to hold fair and transparent elections once every 4 years. Additional obligations placed upon the IOA are to maintain public accountability, resolve disputes through a proper mechanism of dispute resolution within 15 days of a dispute arising and enact bye-laws in compliance with the IOC Charter and directions. The IOA would also be required to seek permission from the central government prior to bidding for any major sporting event and to submit before the Parliament its audited statements, report of activities and measures taken to promote the welfare of athletes, combat doping, expedite the process of dispute resolution, comply with the Right to Information Act, 2005 and prevent gender discrimination and harassment of women in sports.
The Bill places restrictions on age and tenure at the NSFs including the IOA with 70 being the mandatory age of retirement and office-bearers being barred from securing more than two consecutive terms in office. The Draft also places restrictions on concurrent holding of positions by Office Bearers in NSFs. The Bill lays down guidelines for recognition and de-recognition of NSF’s. The Government has the right to revoke recognition of a national sports federation if it fails to register itself with the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs. The Government can also revoke such recognition at any other time based on numerous grounds such as mismanagement or neglect of affairs.
As mentioned above, organisations such as the IOA and the IOC have argued that the above provisions contravene the principles laid down in the Olympic Charter which strictly prohibit any interference from Governments in the running of autonomous sports bodies.
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