On Monday, the Lok Sabha passed the National Sports Bill and the National Anti-Doping Amendment Bill, and the BCCI has also come under the purview of the former. The Bills were moved by the Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, which aim at making India a sporting giant in the future.
One of the main purposes of the National Sports Bill is to regulate the functioning of all sports in the country. The Bill also has something called the National Sports Board, which will oversee the sports federations, including the BCCI. Now, the board will have to register as a National Sports Federation, since cricket has been added to the 2028 LA Olympics.
One of the features of the Sports Bill would be that it will constitute the National Sports Tribunal as well, which will have the powers of the civil court, to resolve the selection and election matters, which include the athletes and the board. The appeal against the decision by the Tribunal can only be made in the Supreme Court.
Apart from that, as for the BCCI, the bill also relaxes the age restriction for the administrators. Those between 70 and 75 can contest elections, if allowed by the international body. So, in all likelihood, the current head, Roger Binny, could continue, who turned 70 on July 19.
In the initial version of the National Sports Bill, the BCCI would have come under the RTI as well. But then, since the board doesn’t really rely on the centre’s funding, that clause has been removed now. Apart from that, all the rules, as for the other sports bodies, would be applicable to the BCCI too.
