Sports Ministry revises National Sports Governance Bill draft: Reports

The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports has proposed some changes to the National Sports Governance Bill 2024 draft after taking in suggestions from the Indian sporting ecosystem.

These changes will be incorporated before the bill is tabled in the Parliament during the 2025 budget session, which will start from January 31.

As per reports, the major changes include the renaming of The Sports Regulatory Body of India and a relaxation in age restriction for administrators.

The Sports Regulatory Body of India, which most of the National Sports Federations and the Indian Olympic Association were against could now be replaced with a National Sports Board. 

The National Sports board will work towards promoting good sporting governance in India, including government compliance, maintaining financial and ethical standards of the Indian Olympic Association, National Sports Federations, the State Federations and their affiliated unit.

As per the newly proposed draft, the National Sports board won't be able to suspend or derecognise any sports body, as was earlier suggested. Instead, it will have to consult with the International Olympic Committee or the International Federation of respective sports before coming to any decision.

Moreover, the age limit for executive committee members of the sports body will be relaxed to 75 instead of 70, as per the newly proposed draft. But the tenure period would remain the same – two four-year terms before a cooling off period of four years to contest sports body elections again.

Besides, if the bill is passed in the Parliament all the sports administrative cases currently ongoing in various courts across the country will be shifted to the Apellate Sports Tribunal from the stage where it was left off unless a fresh hearing is deemed essential.