The bill, proposed to be introduced ostensibly to avoid fiascos such as the organisation of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi last year, and to encourage ‘accountability and transparency’ of National Sports Federations, had run into trouble long before Sports Minister Ajay Maken’s brainchild was emphatically rejected by the Cabinet.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had voiced its apprehensions and misgivings long before the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) was officially saddled with the ‘party-pooper’ tag. The IOA had made it clear in no uncertain terms that various contentious clauses in the draft bill were not acceptable to it, and almost all other National Sports Federations which are directly under the Sports Ministry’s purview followed suit.
Maken, of course, has sought to train his guns extensively on the BCCI, an autonomous body that is not merely self-sufficient, but also provides financial assistance to other, less marketed and less financially endowed sports bodies.
Among the clauses that have raised the hackles of sports units cutting across disciplines are age and tenure limits, a 25 per cent reservation for sportspersons in executive bodies of all federations, and bringing all associations under the Right to Information Act.
Stacked with ministers
The Union Cabinet isn’t so much split down the middle as it is stacked with several ministers on one side and Maken on the other, finding himself in a minority of one. That’s unsurprising, given that Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar is the head of the International Cricket Council, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Farooq Abdullah and C P Joshi all head their respective state associations, and Praful Patel is the president of the All India Football Federation.
It’s interesting, and hardly coincidental, that Maken has chosen to train his guns almost entirely on the BCCI, easily the most professionally run sports body in the country, even as other associations stumble from one embarrassing controversy to another. For all his pro-active, hard-talking stance, the Sports Minister is yet to satisfactorily address the hockey conundrum which threatens to rob India of the opportunity to host two world-class events in the next few months.
Challenges too many
The continuing doping menace that has so shamed Indian athletics in the last few months, and that extends to other sports such as weightlifting, deserves as much attention, if not more, as enacting a law with intentions that might be noble, but that are being perceived by many as draconian and an obvious move to control sporting bodies in general, and the BCCI in particular.
The proposed age cap of 70 on office-bearers elicited an interesting response from Abdullah, the president of the Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association. “At 74, if I am fit enough to be in the Cabinet, I cannot be termed ineligible to lead a sports body,” he thundered. Something to ponder over, there?
From its perspective, the BCCI’s misgivings aren’t without basis. In June this year, the International Cricket Council made it mandatory for all its member boards to be independent of government control by 2013, or face the prospect of being outlawed from the international game.
The timing of this proposed bill, therefore, couldn’t have been worse so far as the BCCI is concerned.
It’s unavoidable, indeed imperative, that the country needs a sports bill because India’s standing as an international sporting superpower is non-existent.
That bill, however, cannot be one man’s vision alone. It must entail dialogue and debate, and be arrived at after careful consideration and weighing all the pros and cons, especially if the aim is not to impose authority but to raise the profile of Indian sport at the global level.
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