The National Sports Governance Bill and the National Anti-Doping Amendment Bill were passed in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
The Sports Governance Bill seeks to regulate the various sports administrators in India, while the Anti-Doping Amendment Bill provides greater “operational independence” to the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) as prescribed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
The Governance Bill provides for the establishment of the National Olympic Committee, National Paralympic Committee, and National and Regional Sports Federations for each designated sport.
“The Bill will be the single biggest reform in sports since Independence. Through this bill, we hope to realise the dream of ground to glory,” sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya said.
Here’s what the top brass from across the country’s sport federations told Sportstar, in reaction to the passing of the bill:
Kamlesh Mehta – Secretary, Table Tennis Federation of India
At a time when India is showing a keen interest in bidding for the 2036 Olympics, the passage of the bill marks an important first step in the country’s quest to become a superpower in sports. It is also an important step in enhancing sports administration of the country.
Adille Sumariwalla – Advisor, Athletics Federation of India
I think it was a much-needed bill. It will reduce the amount of litigation that’s going on. Right now, there are hundreds of cases in different courts all over the country. People are using the courts for personal motives and that is spoiling the administration. In 99% of the elections that are being held, somebody or the other is going to court. There are lawyers who are only doing this just to make money and aiming to be saviours and guardians of the spot. So at least this will bring some sort of semblance to the cases. There are cases which have been lying in courts for eight or ten years. I mean, committees have come, committees have changed, but the cases are still there in the court. Different courts are giving different verdicts on the same issue. We have all these court cases going on and the courts appoint administrators at a salary of 5 lakh rupees a month. How is the federation supposed to pay this money? These are just draconian judgments and there is very little understanding of how systems work. This has to stop.
RELATED | National Sports Governance Bill and Anti-Doping Amendment Bill passed in Lok Sabha
I don’t think there is anything wrong with setting out proper rules and regulations for business. It’s good for the athlete, it’s good for the coaches and it’s good for the administrators. You get more empowerment of athletes, there is women empowerment. There are places kept for Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit (SOM), which is not in any other constitution in the world. They are trying to bring gender parity, which is good. Empowerment of women, again, athletes, there’s a proper athletes redress system, there is safeguarding of athletes, safety of athletes in the bill.
SOMs are eligible to stand for elections. So I think for the athletes, it’s an absolute win-win. Again, the same for the coaches. They have a formal grievance redressal system.
There are a lot of coaches who are having problems of wrong payment, harassment, etc. They have a place to go to. National Sports Federations have to form a code of ethics for coaches, as per this defined standards of professional conduct. Again, it gives very clear rights and responsibilities of the coaches.
One of the other topics that everyone is talking about is the National Sports Regulatory Board. But it is only replacing the Department of Sports in SAI. That is who is giving you affiliation, sanctioning your money and the place you go to for registration.
I hope the National Sports Regulatory body has some good people so that there is some good administration. Right now, we have a system where someone comes in every couple of years and then everybody starts from scratch.
The easing of the age and tenure norms will also help. Right now, how many Indians are there on the world body across sports — there’s just me. If we are not there in the world body, India will suffer. We don’t have anyone to speak for us when, for example, rules are being changed. If you are saying you can’t serve beyond 70, then you have no chance for continuity.
Further how can you compare what the IOC does with what is happening at the district level. There are very few people who are even running the sport at that level. How do you want to give them a tenure? What do you think will happen to the sport.
So there are three things which I’m very happy with. One that it will reduce the amount of time spent litigating the outcome of elections. It will also produce good administration because the bill has very clearly laid out what the rights, duties and responsibilities are. Once the election happens, they can go ahead and do their work. Otherwise, they are elected, but all they’re doing is for four years; they are only fighting in different courts. I hope they will be able to spend time, energy and money into improving the sport instead of being in court.
The bill also says very clearly that if you want to be president, secretary or treasurer, you should have served for two terms in the committee. I think we have seen so many times how people have simply been parachuted into NSFs as secretaries and presidents and what kind of chaos that has created.
I think overall, overall the bill is good but like any bill a lot will depend on how it’s implemented. If people are not good, we can’t do anything but the intention of the bill is correct and it is much needed.
Kalyan Chaubey – President, All India Football Federation
I think today is a historical day for Indian sports for several reasons. This sports bill will definitely create a pathway for India to host major international tournaments. You see, it is a holistic (Bill) and not limited to any sport. When the entire sports ecosystem benefits, football will also be part of these beneficiaries. With (good) governance and active participation, it will allow participation down to the district level.
Pullela Gopichand – Chief National badminton coach
It’s a huge positive step and a change for the better for Indian sports. I am happy that the Indian Government has passed the bill.
(WIth inputs from K. Keerthivasan, Jonathan Selvaraj and Neeladri Bhattacharjee)
