Congress warns sports bill will ‘centralise power’, shield BCCI from scrutiny

Jairam Ramesh accused the government of rushing the National Sports Governance Bill through Parliament, saying it bypasses oversight and exempts cricket’s top body from RTI.

New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday slammed the government for "bulldozing" the National Sports Governance Bill, 2025 through the Lok Sabha and claimed that the legislation will result in the "extreme centralisation" of sports administration.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh alleged that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will get the most favoured treatment, not subject to any laws of the land like the RTI.

"The National Sports Governance Bill, 2025 was bulldozed through the Lok Sabha yesterday and will perhaps be subject to the same treatment in the Rajya Sabha today," he said on X.

Yesterday, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth, and Sports Digvijaya Singh had written to the Lok Sabha Speaker requesting that the Bill be referred to the Committee for deeper examination and wider consultations.

"That is what such Committees are for. However, the Modi government -- as has happened so very frequently in the past -- ignored this perfectly legitimate request," Ramesh said.

"The Bill will result in the extreme centralisation of sports administration. And, of course, the BCCI will get the most favoured treatment, not subject to any laws of the land like the RTI," he said.

The long-awaited National Sports Governance Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha here on Monday with Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya describing it as the "single biggest reform in Indian sports since independence", amid opposition protests over revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.

The National Anti-Doping (Amendment) Bill was also passed in the Lok Sabha.

Amid the din, the bills were passed by a voice vote.