Federation heads want govt to ensure sports bill doesn’t infringe upon autonomy

NEW DELHI: The establishment of the Sports Regulatory Board (SRB) under the proposed National Sports Governance Bill 2024 has been seen by several national federations as an “infringement” on their autonomy by the govt. The federation officials believe that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) might see it as a direct interference by the govt in the NSFs’ functioning.
Besides, the federations want that there shouldn’t be age and tenure restrictions on office bearers in the draft bill. These reservations were raised by the NSFs officials during the sports ministry’s stakeholder consultation meeting with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and federation heads to deliberate on the bill which the govt intends to introduce in the next Budget session of the Parliament.

TOI spoke to presidents of athletics and football federations of India, as well as IOA member Gagan Narang to understand the issue. They all welcomed the bill and see it as a step in the right direction to revamp sports governance in the country. However, the setting up of SRB, which will be responsible for granting recognition and taking suo moto cognizance of governance issues in federations, remained the moot talking point as the NSFs believe it would restrict the autonomy of the federations and clash with the IOC charter that does not allow govt interference in running of sports bodies.

Athletics Federation of India (AFI) head Adille Sumariwalla said, “The purpose of any bill should be to empower and this bill has both the elements and the intent to do so, especially in view of the large number of court cases that plague sports governance in India. We (AFI) have pointed out that there should be no age and tenure restrictions for office bearers since it takes a long time to build a rapport with international bodies which is essential for getting hosting rights of international competitions. A case in point is the appointment of Raja Randhir Singh as the OCA president at the age of 77 years.”

Talking about the SRB, Sumariwalla added: “This is a concern that has been raised by some federations. We must bear in mind two things — first that the govt is open to incorporating changes in the bill and second it has already been clearly stated that in case of a conflict between what is laid out in the bill (or the law when it is passed) and the requirement or rule of the IOC charter, the latter will prevail.”

All India Football Federation (AIFF) president Kalyan Chaubey said, “The bill states that the SRB will have flexibility and autonomy in providing recognition and no single rule book needs to be followed for all federations because the need of each federation is different. There will be athletes in the SRB too, who know the ground requirements. I believe the govt will look after the interests of NSFs.”

Narang said the proposed measures in the bill will reflect the Olympic and Paralympic charter. “This bill will reform sports governance and bring transparency and accountability while giving more women administrators a chance to come into the fray.”