Govt blinks,may leave BCCI out of sports bill

The proposal was approved by Sports Minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday and has been forwarded to an eight-member working group,which will formulate the revised bill based on these suggestions.

The Sports Ministry is contemplating to keep the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) outside the purview of the revised National Sports Development Bill,which is likely to be ready by May 31. The ministry on Wednesday advised its working group to consider if some provisions of the sports bill could be non-binding for those who do not seek assistance from the government in any form.

Instead,only the federations of the sports that are a part of the Olympics and Asian Games will be compulsorily covered under the revised sports bill,with other federations having the right to opt out of it.

The proposal was approved by Sports Minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday and has been forwarded to an eight-member working group,which will formulate the revised bill based on these suggestions. The committee headed by former chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Mukul Mudgal has been advised to prepare the new draft sports bill by May 31 and the draft model rules by August 31.

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The original version of the sports bill,which was first drafted two years ago,targeted the BCCI,saying it will have to adhere to the regulations laid by the ministry like other national sports federations,and follow the rules regarding elections,the Right to Information Act and doping,among other issues. The BCCI staunchly rejected the idea,terming the bill as draconian.

With a number of political heavyweights in its working committee,the cricket board flexed its muscle and ensured the bill never saw the light of day. However,the ministry hopes that by taking the BCCI out of the picture,and by garnering support from other federations,it will be in a better position to get the bill cleared during the next session of Parliament.

3 key commissions

Sports secretary PK Deb said the basic principles of the original sports bill have been retained while adding a few new features. The ministry has proposed to introduce three key commissions in order to ensure fair and transparent governance. These include: a) setting up of an independent dispute resolution tribunal,which can be used to address the issues instead of the courts; b) forming an Ethics Commission that will enforce the NSFs to follow the basic principles of good governance based on the Olympic Charter; and c) establishing an Election Commission for Sports that will be an autonomous body with the responsibility to ensure the NSFs conduct their elections in a free and fair manner.

While Deb insisted that the autonomy of the National Sports Federations (NSFs) would be maintained,with the government not interfering in their day-to-day affairs,the new features are consistent with the controversial sports code that saw IOC suspending India from the Olympic Movement.

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Deb said 53 out of the 54 NSFs it recognises have accepted these provisions. The Archery Association of India,headed by VK Malhotra,is the only federation yet to fall in line with the sports code.