NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has reportedly underscored that sporting facilities must be treated as community resources and cannot be monopolised by the wealthy and urban elite.
Times of India reports that while finalising the constitution of All India Football Federation on Friday, a bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi stated: “It is also necessary to ensure that sporting facilities and opportunities are not concentrated in the hands of the urban economic elite, and that the revenues from sporting events, intellectual property and media rights are so distributed to subserve and encourage accessible and affordable sport in our country.”
Justice Narasimha, writing the judgment, noted that the time has come to recognise sporting “facilities and opportunities” as “material resources of the community”, and sporting federations as “the institutions of national life”.
He further remarked, “As ‘places of public resort’, sporting institutions and bodies must remain accessible, not just for pursuing sport, but also for its administration. It should be the deeper Sadhana (endeavour) of the State, and it is also our Constitutional duty to ensure sporting facilities and opportunities flourish with institutional efficiency, integrity, professionalism, and expertise.”
