New Delhi: The govt will introduce the much-awaited ‘National Sports Governance Bill 2025’ in the Parliament on Wednesday, with a hope that the passage of the legislation will create a legal framework for transparent and fair functioning of national federations (NSFs), and protect athletes through safe sport and grievance redressal systems.The bill aims to provide for the promotion of sports, athletes’ welfare and ethical practices in sports; to establish standards for the governance of NSFs and to institute measures for the resolution of administrative disputes.Alongside the governance bill, the govt will also table the ‘National Anti-Doping (Amendment) Bill, 2025’ in the Lower House to “bring the 2022 anti-doping act in line with the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) Code and global standards, and to ensure that both the panels – anti-doping disciplinary (ADDP) and appeals (ADAP) — work independently”.It will be a major achievement for the BJP-led NDA govt, as the governance bill had previously been returned twice from the Cabinet and once from the Parliament after a consensus couldn’t be reached over the proposed legislation.One of the major highlights of the bill is that the Indian cricket board (BCCI) will come under its purview as an NSF. Like any other federation, BCCI will have to apply for annual recognition afresh once the bill becomes an Act and all the board’s ongoing and future litigations will be resolved by the proposed ‘National Sports Tribunal’.BCCI or its affiliated state associations can’t directly approach various courts of the country in case of any dispute. Once the board’s elections are done in Sept, the national cricket body will be required to take recognition from the soon-tobe-formulated ‘National Sports Board’, even though it is not reliant on govt funding.“Like all NSFs, the BCCI will have to comply with the law of the land once the bill becomes an Act. The Board doesn’t take ministry funding but an Act of Parliament applies to them. They will remain an autonomous body like all other NSFs but their disputes, if any, will also come to the National Sports Tribunal which will become the dispute resolution body for sports matters ranging from elections to selection. However, this bill does not mean govt control over any NSF. The govt will be a facilitator in ensuring good governance, not an enforcer,” a ministry official said.
The bill solves 10 problems
The bill aims to resolve 10 issues plaguing Indian sports: frequent litigation over NSF elections and athlete selections; lack of a dedicated dispute resolution forum; weak or token athlete representation in federations; gender imbalance in sports leadership; no standard electoral process across federations; financial opacity and poor governance in NSFs; absence of internal grievance redressal systems; multiple court interventions delaying sports events; no legal recognition for safe sport mechanisms and limited enforceability of Code provisions till now.
Myth vs fact
The bill dispels notions that the govt will control the NSFs and the tribunal will override courts. The ministry official informed: “The bill ensures autonomy while enforcing basic governance standards.”
Age and tenure relaxation
The bill provides for relaxation in the contentious age and tenure provisions. Sources have informed that the office bearers of NSFs — including president, secretary general and treasurer — can continue in their posts even after attaining the age of 70 to complete their respective terms.The office bearers don’t have to relinquish office after reaching the age of 70. So, if an office-bearer contests for a position in a federation and he/she is 69 years and 364 days old at the time of his/her election after the voting, the person can continue to complete his/her full mandated term without relinquishing office.As far as the tenure is concerned, the bill says “The president, secretary and treasurer shall be eligible for election to the executive committee after a cooling-off period of one term, provided they have held the position for the last three consecutive terms. A term shall not be of more than four years which will be a total of 12 years (three terms of four year each).”
