THE CONTEXT: In August 2022, the International Federation of Association Football(FIFA) has suspended the All India Football Federation (AIFF) with immediate effect due to undue influence from third parties, which constitutes a serious violation of the FIFA Statutes. This incident is only a symptom of the larger issues of mis-governance, mal-administration and an all-pervading malaise of corruption that have plagued sports bodies in India. Against this backdrop this article analyses the problems of sports bodies and also suggest reforms so that India can emerge as champion among the sporting nations.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS RELATED TO SPORTS GOVERNANCE IN INDIA
1. BCCI ISSUE: In January 2015, the SC appointed a committee headed by Justice (Retd) RM Lodha to determine punishments for those named in the Mudgal Committee (2014) report and to recommend reforms for cricket in India particularly suggesting amendments to the processes followed by BCCI.R M Lodha panel recommendations (2016) to restructure the BCCI and disclosure of the assets by the members of the governing body of the BCCI. But, the problems with BCCI seem to continue despite changes in its working.
2. AIFF ISSUE: Recently in August 2022, FIFA, suspended the country’s top administrative organization, the All-India Football Federation (AIFF), for undue influence from third parties.
- AIFF’S President’s Unwillingness to Vacate His Post: President Praful Patel, also a FIFA council member, refused to relinquish his post as the head of football in the country.
- Third-Party Intervention: Despite the growing concerns about the working of AIFF, the Supreme Court of India intervened and removed Patel from his post.Further, The SC also appointed a Committee of Administrators (COA) to run the AIFF.
o As per FIFA Statutes, member federations should not be subject to legal and political interference in their respective countries. [Third Party Intervention refers to a situation in which a member association of FIFA fails to remain independent, is co-opted, and no longer has control over its organization.]
SPORTS GOVERNANCE IN INDIA
- A federated model is the cornerstone of the Indian sporting infrastructure. The sport regulating organizations for each geographic location are distinct and unique for each sport.
- Numerous important organizations exist independently of the federated framework as well. Governments (both national and state), government organizations (such as the Sports Authority of India), and the Indian Olympic Association are among them (IOA).
- In India, private and non-profit organizations extensively and innovatively contribute to the sports industry in a manner that is unprecedented in other nations, be it in Kabaddi or in Football.
- Non-profit organizations such as GoSports Foundation and Olympic Gold Quest, rely on sponsorship through the enormous efforts of corporate social responsibility and offer athletes exceptional support and services that could not be accessed through the more formalized sports system.
CURRENT STRUCTURE OF SPORTS GOVERNANCE IN INDIA
The model in India has multiple stakeholders such as the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS), Sports Authority of India (SAI), National Sports Federation (NSF), Indian Olympic Association (IOA), State Olympic Association (SOA), etc. The present scheme of arrangements of sports governance in India can better be understood by the pictorial representation given below:
In accordance with the Olympic Charter that restricts government influence of sports federations, the sports bodies in India are autonomous entities. While the IOA is the umbrella body under which all the NSFs and SOAs conduct various sporting events in the country, government bodies operate under MYAS, playing a support role such as training and infrastructure management.
In addition, there are federations for non-Olympic sports such as Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for cricket. These federations are directly affiliated to their respective international federations. Similar to the IOA and NSFs, government intervention is restricted by the charter of their respective international federations.
ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH SPORTS GOVERNANCE IN INDIA
UNCLEAR DEMARCATION OF RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITY
- Currently, there is very little distinction between management and governance within Indian sport.
- In many Indian sporting organizations, the executive committee, the body ostensibly responsible for governance, usually finds itself doing the management work.
LACK OF CHECKS AND BALANCES
- In the pretext of autonomy, sporting organizations have been allowed to function in any manner without checks and balances.
LACK OF TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY
- The current sports model faces accountability issues such as that of having unlimited discretionary powers and also there is no transparency in the decision-making with irregularity in revenue management. For instance:
- In July 2010, the Central Vigilance Commission released a report about irregularities in 14 projects of Commonwealth Games held in India.
- The 2013 Indian Premier League spot-fixing and betting case.
LACK OF SUFFICIENT INFRASTRUCTURE
- Status of sports infrastructure in India is yet to reach the desired level. This creates an obstacle in developing a culture of sports in the country.
PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS
- Use of performance enhancing drugs is still a major problem in the sports sector.
- This problem still needs to be addressed effectively, despite the creation of the National Anti Doping Agency in the country.
IMPLICATIONS OF POOR SPORTS GOVERNANCE IN INDIA
1. Developing a strategic plan takes time and effort from a wide variety of stakeholders. Good governance provides the structures, tools and formal mechanisms to ensure the plan is implemented consistently and in line with the current and future aspirations. Poor sports governance leads to poor performance in sports and moral loss of the sportspersons as well as admirers of the sports.
2. Poor governance means a lack of transparent decision making processes, and can open the way for financial irregularities and/or corruption on and off the field – in part due to a lack of rules, regulations, formal guidance and/or unethical culture. Poor governance shows poor social responsibility.
3. Aside from the effect which poor governance can have on an organisation, the strongest consideration must also be given to the impact on the most important constituent of any sport: its people. Any negative impact on an organisation detracts from its ability to provide for its members, participants, staff, volunteers and fans. The most serious governance failings will lead to very real and grave implications on a human level.
4. The poor sports governance also have economic implications on the related industries manufacturing sport equipments, the livelihood of locals near and around the sport facilities, international tourism etc are all staring at a loss in view of poor sports governance.
WHETHER THE SPORTS BODIES SHOULD BE BROUGHT UNDER THE DEFINITION OF “STATE” FOR BETTER GOVERNANCE?
Over the years there have been many debates as to whether sports bodies like BCCI should be classified as a ‘State’ under Article 12 of the Constitution of India and to bring the sport bodies/federations under the realm of the Right to Information Act.
In case of Cricket the Court took into account the principles of absence of “deep and pervasive control and lack of substantial government funding” to rule out BCCI as ‘State’ under Article 12 of the Constitution of India. The Court ruled out BCCI from the purview of it being an ‘Instrumentality of the State’ but stated that these tests are not definitive as has been time and again specified by the Court.
The current status is that the Supreme Court has declared BCCI a public authority under the RTI Act. But the BCCI is yet to declare this by themselves.
The Olympic Charter also restricts government influence of sports federations and the sports bodies in India are autonomous entities. While the IOA is the umbrella body under which all the NSFs and SOAs conduct various sporting events in the country, government bodies operate under MYAS, playing a support role such as training and infrastructure management.
Against this backdrop it is imperative to maintain the balance between the autonomy of the sport federations and the overall governance mechanism by the state. However, areas where much of the public fund is utilised there shall be transparency and accountability on the part of the organisations.
NATIONAL SPORTS DEVELOPMENT CODE AND SPORTS GOVERNANCE
- National Sports Development Code of India (SPORTS CODE) was introduced in 2011 by the Central government to bring good governance practices in the management of sports at the national level without interfering with the autonomy of the national sports bodies.It enunciates the basic universal principles of good governance, ethics and fair play in the sports.The code prescribes restrictions on the age and tenure of the office-bearers of federations and also envisages transparent functioning along with free and fair elections.
- The Delhi High Court in 2014 held that the government can ‘insist upon adherence to these provisions (sports code), without the aid of legislation’ and added that the sports code provisions were ‘neither arbitrary’ nor did they ‘violate any freedom under the Constitution.’The court is also of the opinion that a federation which does not follow the guidelines should be suspended and it is indeed imperative that no further exemptions be granted to or lenience be shown to noncompliant NSFs.
- In 2021 the court had asked the sports ministry for the status of compliance with the Sports Code by 41 national federations. As of October 2022 the report has not yet been submitted.
- When a sports body is found in violation of the sports code the respective federations can be put under a Committee of Administrators (CoA). However even the CoA was accused by many of failing to implement the reforms proposed by Justice RM Lodha in BCCI case.
- Sports code was envisaged as a one stop solution to the malaises in the sports governance in India but it is hard to say that it had been efficient.
- Global professional sports clubs have contributed significantly to raise the standard of some sports. Football, tennis, cricket, basketball, baseball, track and field events in athletics and boxing, to name a few and currently more than 100 professional leagues in various sports exist across the world. (NFL, MLB and NBA are the top three, profitability wise.) India has an immense coaching talent with vast experience in different sports that can act as a catalyst for the development of India as a training hub for sports like Kabaddi and Cricket at an international sphere. For instance, a small town Iten in Kenya has produced more than 10 world champions in athletics in the last couple of decades. Such grassroot level interventions shall be made and sports be included in the school curriculum to attract the talented individuals early and train them for world platform.
THE WAY FORWARD:
1. Restructuring Governance and Management: There should be a proper demarcating of roles and responsibilities among different bodies involved in the Indian sport sector to maximize the use of resources and ensure there are no gaps in meeting the needs of sport. This will also bring transparency and accountability in the functioning of the respective sports federations.
2. Effective Legislative Backing: In the absence of strong legislation, there will be no efficacy in the functions of the sports authorities. Also, the political intervention can be easily checked with a well-drafted legislation reducing anomalies.
3. Sports Awareness: By incorporating sports into children’s daily lives, it will not only boost their confidence, self-image and personality, but also open the gateway to a possible career in sports. The quality of infrastructure can be scaled up to the village level and regional centres should be made available for those who are serious at taking their sport professionally.
4. Sports are governed by the International Sports Federations and the peculiar regional demands shall be incorporated so as not to encroach the sovereignty of the country in any way.
THE CONCLUSION: Needless to say, the current model of governance of Indian sports lacks accountability and transparency, which creates an environment that is conducive to wide-scale corruption, threatening a sports overall credibility. Unless mechanisms are brought in place to govern the huge sums of money and the interests of various stakeholders, sports will always run the risk of losing credibility, negatively impacting the future of its players and stakeholders.
Mains Practice Questions:
1) India cannot evolve into a sporting nation through watching television alone. Comment.
2) National Sports Development Code of India (2011) has failed to achieve its objective and a new model of Sports Governance is long overdue. Critically examine.
3) “The sports governance ecosystem in India requires immediate reforms”. Argue
