Usha says some clauses in draft may violate IOC norms

New Delhi: Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha has said that some provisions of the Draft National Sports Governance Bill might be seen by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as an “interference of the government”, according to officials of the National Sports Federations (NSF) present during a stakeholder consultation meeting on the draft bill here on Thursday.

Chaired by sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya, the meeting had representatives from IOA, NSFs and other stakeholders.

The draft bill aims to reform governance of sport bodies in India. Among the key features in the bill, the government will establish a Sports Regulatory Board of India (SRBI), which will be responsible for granting recognition to NSFs and ensuring compliance with governance, financial, and ethical standards.

The draft bill proposes a dedicated Appellate Sports Tribunal to handle sports-related disputes in India, “reducing reliance on civil courts and ensuring faster resolution of grievances.” This proposal was welcomed by many federations.

The draft bill ensures that 10% of the voting members in the General Body of the NOC, and NSFs, are sportspersons of outstanding merit (SOMs) who are elected by the Athletes Commission.

During the meeting, Usha said SRBI might go against the independent functioning of the IOA and NSFs as defined in the Olympic charter, said a top official of a federation who was present in the meeting.

“She was emphatic in saying that such a move could be seen by the IOC as an interference in independent functioning of the IOA and NSFs. She said the Olympic charter puts strong emphasis on autonomy of National Olympic Committees,” said the official who did not want to be named. Usha also spoke about the important role of state Olympic bodies, the official said.

It was learnt that officials of several other federations too raised the point of the regulatory board granting recognition as a “breach of autonomy.”

In 2011, the government had drafted a sports bill but IOC had termed certain provisions as infringing on IOA’s autonomy.

In the stakeholders’ meeting, NSF’s also gave suggestions on putting a cap on executive board (15 members), guidelines on age and tenure, formation of Appellate Sports Tribunal and inducting SOMs.

“There are positives and drawbacks in the draft. A tribunal to settle disputes is a good move. As far as age and tenure guidelines are concerned, every federation should be allowed to align themselves with the constitutions of their respective international federations. To get elected in international federations you need to spend some years in federations. It was a consultation meeting and the sports minister seemed very positive to take the feedback,” said an official.

The sports minister, while welcoming the suggestions, said the government is very serious about transparency and good governance in sports federations and is willing to consult every stakeholder on the bill.