New Delhi: The Draft National Sports Development Bill 2013, presented to the government on Wednesday, threatens to put the cat among the pigeons, particularly when it comes to the national sports federations (NSFs) and long-serving administrators.
The document, prepared by the working group for drafting of the national sports development Bill 2013 under the chairmanship of Justice (retd) Mukul Mudgal, was submitted to Union sports minister Jitendra Singh on the day.
Among the salient features of the draft are the setting up of an appellate sports tribunal, a sports election commission and provisions to bar chargesheeted persons from contesting elections.
In a recommendation that will set the country’s most powerful sports body at odds with the sports ministry, the draft suggests that only those federations that come under the Right to Information Act (RTI) ambit will have the right to use ‘India’ as the team’s name.
Clause (h) of the proposed Bill will worry the BCCI as it states: “In order to represent India in international events and to have a right for a particular sport federation to use ‘India’ or ‘Indian’ in the sport scenario, the federation shall have to comply with Chapter IV (Unethical practices in Sports) and Chapter IX (Applicability of Right to Information Act).”
The BCCI is not a registered NSF as it does not take government grant and thus cannot be brought under RTI but if the Draft Sports Bill is finally passed by Parliament, then Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Co. can’t officially represent ‘India’ at international tournaments. In Kolkata, BCCI’s interim chief Jagmohan Dalmiya declined to comment before having a detailed look at the document.
Salient features:
Setting up of an appellate tribunal
Federations must come under RTI to carry India tag
Sports election commission, athletes commission and ethics commission mooted
Provisions to bar charge-sheeted persons from contesting elections
Age and tenure guidelines
Transparency and good governance in NSFs