BCCI to come under National Sports Governance Bill? Here's what we know
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "BCCI to come under National Sports Governance Bill? Here's what we know")
BCCI headquarters building in Mumbai Photograph: (AFP)
According to reports, The Board of Control for Cricket in India will now be classified as a National Sports Federation under the new bill
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will come under the jurisdiction of the National Sports Governance Bill, which will be tabled in Parliament on Wednesday (July 23). The cricket board will have to seek recognition from the proposed National Sports Board under the new act, despite it not being dependent on government funds.
A sports ministry official on Tuesday (July 22) said that as with all National Sports federations (NSFs), the BCCI too would have to adhere to the law of the land once this Bill becomes an Act. “They don't take funding from the ministry, 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 proposed National Sports Tribunal, which will become the dispute resolution body for sports issues ranging from elections to selection,” the official said.
These will not attempt to have government oversight on any NSF," he clarified. Government, according to him, would be a facilitator rather than an enforcer of good governance. BCCI has become an Olympic part after cricket was added in the 2028 Los Angeles Games, where it would be contested in the T20 format. The much-awaited Sports Governance Bill attempts to institutionalise robust structures for timely elections, administrative accountability, athlete well-being and minimisation of litigation through a range of measures.
The National Sports Board (NSB), constituted completely by the Central government, will have sweeping powers to give and even withdraw recognition of federations on grounds of complaints or "its own motion" for transgressions ranging from electoral malpractices to financial misappropriation. The Bill offers compromises on the question of age limit of administrators by providing that persons in the age group of 70 to 75 may stand for elections subject to there being no opposition from international bodies involved. On matters relating to elections, the Bill will accept the "supremacy" of the Olympic Charter and International Federations' statutes.
The new NSB will have a chairperson and members, who will be nominated by the central government from "amongst persons of ability, integrity and standing". They would be nominated on the recommendations of a search- cum-selection committee, as per the Bill, which has been finalised after several rounds of consultations with stakeholders and public inputs.
The chairperson of the selection committee would be the cabinet secretary or secretary, sports and would include the Director General of the Sports Authority of India, two sport administrators each of whom shall have served as president or secretary general or treasurer of a national sport body and one renowned sportsperson who is a Dronacharya, Khel Ratna or Arjuna awardee.
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“This is an athlete-centric Bill which will ensure stable administration, fair selection, safe sports and grievance redressal, NSF audits, proper accounting and better fund management. The National Sports Tribunal will ensure that there is no career damage to athletes due to delayed court cases. Even now 350 different court cases are in progress where the ministry is a party. This needs to end. As was mentioned in the draft released last year, the Board will have the power to grant recognition to NSFs and even constitute ad-hoc panels to run individual sports in case an NSF is suspended,” said the official.
