A 14-year wait for the Sports Bill will come to an end when it is tabled in the parliament on Wednesday at 11 AM IST. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and all other federations that run sports in India will come under this bill. What will immediately benefit the cricket board is changing of the age cap of the administrators from 70 years to 75 years. It will enable current BCCI president Roger Binny to continue for 5 more years at the helm. He turned 70 on 19th July and had become ineligible to lead the BCCI.
A framework of the bill was laid by Ajay Maken in 2011 but due to opposition from his party colleagues, who were a part of several federations, the bill could not go through. Mansukh Mandaviya, the Sports Minister, says that he has dipped into Maken's wisdom and the old draft to give shape to this bill.
The ministry has sought to address 10 problems:
1. Litigation over NSF elections and selection of athletes
2. Lack of dedicated forum for resolution of disputes
3. Token athlete representation at federations
4. Gender imbalance in sports federations
5. No standard electoral process of federations
6. Financial opacity and poor governance in NSFs
7. Absence of internal grievance redressal system
8. Multiple court interventions delaying sports events
9. No legal recognition of safe sports
10. Limited forcibility of code
WHAT ARE THE KEY ELEMENTS?
All NSFs (National Sports Federation) will be governed by this bill. This also includes the state federations.
1. It creates legal framework for transparent and fair functioning of sports bodies
2. Athlete representation mandatory in decisions
3. Quick dispute resolution through sports tribunal
4. Ensure fair and transparent election via election panel
5. Protects athletes through safe sports and grievance mechanisms
6. Keeps govternment's role as facilitator, not controller
7. Recognises Olympic Charter and international norms
The tribunal will resolve disputes within months, and athletes will have a guaranteed seat at the table. Grievance, ethics as well as safe sport mechanisms are going to be formalised.