In order to keep track of what’s happening with Indian sports bodies and the courts, suppose we tried to compress all the jiggery pokery into a social media post — Supreme Court (SC) ordered COA runs football hockey TT judo equestrian Indian Olympic Association (IOA) hearing Mon Past COA BCCI archery future COA volleyball? cycling? That’s 169 characters, fits into an Instagram caption, headline and hashtag of your choice. Or maybe not.
Because, the usual national sports federation (NSF) response
In order to keep track of what’s happening with Indian sports bodies and the courts, suppose we tried to compress all the jiggery pokery into a social media post — Supreme Court (SC) ordered COA runs football hockey TT judo equestrian Indian Olympic Association (IOA) hearing Mon Past COA BCCI archery future COA volleyball? cycling? That’s 169 characters, fits into an Instagram caption, headline and hashtag of your choice. Or maybe not.
Because, the usual national sports federation (NSF) response to any external questioning is either an impassioned recitation of the “autonomy” anthem, accompanied by under-the-breath mutterings of judicial overreach if courts are involved or the threat of international sanctions thrown in as a device to either distract or to reduce legal stricture. The same happened with FIFA’s recent suspension of the All India Football Federation. And a version of this argument is being cited to stay a Delhi high court (HC) order putting the IOA under a Committee of Administrators (COA) to rewrite its constitution under the 2011 National Sports Code.
What is this 2011 code?
It is the only all-encompassing document — other than the NSF’s constitutions — that contains regulations for the good governance of sport in India. Prior to this code, the government — or the ministry of sport and youth affairs (MYAS) — issued guidelines to NSFs in 1975, 1988, 1997 and 2001. The NSFs ignored them, using taxpayer money to run operations and fly the Indian flag in international competition. It was power and cash without responsibility or accountability. The NSFs became locations of political influence, netas and babus holding office for decades, minus fair elections or transparent selections, much overage fraud and zero-redressal mechanisms or involvement of athletes.
The 2011 code was meant to be the first legal step before a national sports development bill could be made into law to improve Indian sport’s governance standards. The bill was sent to cold storage, opposed by parties across the political spectrum. But in 2014, a Delhi court upheld the validity of the code as the benchmark for Indian sports governance regulation. It must be pointed out that the most hotly contested among the regulations were strictures about elections, electoral college and the age and tenure limits of officials.
But why are the courts involved?
Because of petitions. In every case — football, table tennis (TT), hockey, judo — the courts have been approached by parties, citing violations of the code. By lawyers, former athletes, officials and in the case of TT, a current athlete. Ordinarily, on finding regulation lapses and violations in NSF governance, the court declares the NSF illegal and appoints a COA whose job is to bring the NSF into line with the code, through the conduct of elections, the reworking of antiquated constitutions or the reordering of management.
It is said — and rightly so — that the COAs end up with the same former judges whose turnaround speed is slow. Their common presence however, arguably takes into account the similarity in the lapses, loopholes and perpetrators across Indian sport. Horses, footballs or judokas — everything is same-old-same-old. Someone new would have to start from scratch. Perhaps what the justices could do is to push things along with some urgency and ask for more boots on the ground to do so. Sport is, after all, about movement.
Is going to court the only option?
Of course, there are other options. It’s the sports ministry, the Union of India, the executive with the power to seriously whip crack erring NSFs well before courts need to be approached. MYAS has the powers to de-recognise the federations and cut off funding. Barring a brief period at the outset, where boxing and archery got bullwhipped, sports ministries across governments have preferred to wait until the court wakes up to a complaint. Because you see, the politicians who make up governments yearn for a stake in the NSFs. If one of you is being hauled to court for code violations, you’re not likely to fire poisoned darts at him. If it’s one of theirs, you’ll be happy to have them taken down by the lordships, so that you and yours can step in.
Last week, we witnessed a spectacular legal somersault, with MYAS turning up to defend those who had violated its own sports code. After the Delhi HC ordered a COA to take over the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) due to the IOA’s repeated “persistent recalcitrance” to comply with the code, the ministry chose to fight for the “recalcitrant” entities themselves. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appeared both for the government and the IOA, asking for the HC order to be stayed because India would be barred from international sports events. Status quo was thus restored, with the IOA’s acting president Anil Khanna telling the New Indian Express that the 12-year-term limit on office-bearers should actually be 20. With a straight face.
But, surely the court is damaging Indian sport by being involved?
Well, the matter got to the court because no one at the NSF or government wanted to address the original complaint. Indian NSF’s usual governance practices do not place either the sport or the athlete front and centre; that space is reserved for official egos, whims and political clout.
The most fundamental shortage in Indian sport is of adequate competition opportunities or game-time at state and national level. The lack of athlete safety is only being exposed with a growing number of complaints these days. Everywhere you look, you see NSFs and their state bodies exerting power over their sport to strengthen their own positions, rather than benefit the sport itself. There are many examples.
Last January in Bengaluru, where I live, players taking part in small 3x3 or 5x5 pick-up basketball events organised locally found out that a general notice had been issued by the state basketball association to clubs and districts, calling these events “illegal”, and those taking part faced “bans” from representing the state or the nation.
After witnessing a successful opening season of the franchise-based Pro Volleyball League in 2019, the Volleyball Federation of India (VFI) chose to terminate its contract with the organisers Baseline Ventures. Court arbitrators found VFI had flouted the contract, ordered them to pay damages and the VFI’s bank accounts were frozen. In February this year, Baseline conducted a renamed Prime Volleyball League, but players from some states who took part are being ignored from selection for national events.
When these pillars of administration fight for autonomy, what they are fighting for is the autonomy to remain shoddy administrators. Their adversary in this autonomy business is not good governance itself, just the mere prospect of it.
And finally. In February 2021, around the hubbub of the announcement of the Union Budget, the MYAS sent out an innocent looking notice citing the introduction of a “relaxation clause” in the sport code. It read thus: “Government shall have the power to relax any provisions of the Sports Development Code of India, 2011, and other instructions issued with regard to recognition of NSF, renewal of recognition of NSFs on annual basis and governance and management of Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and NSFs as a special exemption where considered necessary and expedient for the promotion of sports, sportspersons…always being guided by and not inconsistent with the overarching spirit of good governance… Power to relax the provisions will vest with the minister in charge of the ministry of youth affairs and sport.”
Sharda Ugra is a senior journalist
The views expressed are personal
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