“We are gathered here today in the aftermath of an unprecedented incident in the annals of Indian Sports. In December, 2012 following allegations regarding Government interference in the elections to the Indian Olympic Association, the IOC refused to recognise or accept the elections that were held for different posts in the IOA. Instead, IOC stated that they would recognise a two member body consisting of the then Acting President of the IOA and the former Secretary General of the IOA. Even this IOA was placed under suspension.
This created an immediate legal crisis in India. The IOA is an association registered under the Societies Act. Under Indian law, once the elections are announced, they cannot be stopped and once a new elected body comes into existence, the older body has no legal existence any longer. An election can be annulled, but then the charge of the society would be given to an administrator who would usually be a government functionary. So we had a situation, where the IOC recognised a body that had no legal sanction and the legally elected body was placed in limbo.
The bone of contention was allegedly the National Sports Code, and in particular the age and tenure restrictions that it imposes on the IOA and the National Sports Federations. This was construed as Government interference in the affairs of the IOA. Strangely, the Sports Code was not imposed by the Government. In the case of the IOA, it was imposed by the High Court of Delhi which is completely independent of Government.
Over the years the judiciary has repeatedly expressed its dismay at the state of affairs in many National Sports Federations. Because of the absence of any clear guiding principles of governance among the NSF, the judiciary has repeatedly taken recourse to the Sports Code and has insisted on the NSF adhering to its principles. Such directions are binding on the concerned NSF.
That is what happened in the case of the IOA. It was not the Government but the Judiciary who asked for adherence to the Sports Code. It was the binding order of the court that became applicable. There was nothing wrong with the order of the Court. All it directed was that the elections should be held as per the constitution of the IOA, with the provisions of the Sports Code also being made applicable. There was no conflict in the provisions.
The reason I gave this lengthy explanation is to stress on a point that is often ignored in the din of accusations and counter-accusations. The Government of India respects the autonomy of the IOA and the NSF. There has been no case where the Government has intervened in the day to day functioning of the NSF. Even when there is a dispute within the NSF, the Govt. of India prefers to respect the views of the International Federation rather than impose its will. This needs to be re-iterated.
What then is the Sports Code? It is a set of guidelines that the Government has come out with and expects the IOA and the NSF to voluntarily adopt. A federation does not have to follow the Sports Code by the letter. In many cases, where the situation demands, the Government has relaxed the provisions of the Code. Examples are the cases of Soccer, Tennis, Yachting, Golf etc. Federations have come to us, discussed the issues and solutions have been found.
What happens when a Federation does not follow the Sports Code? There are no legal penalties. All that the Government can do is to de-recognise the NSF and that means the Government funding is denied. That is all that happens. I would like to stress that funding from Government is using public funds. It entails accountability, transparency and good governance. There are Sports Federations that take no money from Government, such as Cricket, and the Government is quite powerless to enforce the Sports Code in such cases.
Between 40% and 90% of the expenditures of NSF and the IOA is met from Government Funds. All that the Government seeks in return is the enforcement of common transparent guidelines which emphasises transparency, good governance and accountability. It also emphasises the need for sportspersons to have a say in the affairs of their own NSF. The Government guidelines are modelled on those of the IOC itself. Why should then the efforts of the Government be construed as something undesirable?
As a matter of fact, there is almost complete acceptance of the Sports Code among the NSF in India. The Government of India deals with 54 NSF. 53 of them have voluntarily accepted the Sports Code. The only exception is the Archery Federation of India, led by Mr. Vijay Kumar Malhotra, who has refused to join these discussions. 34 of the NSF have amended their constitutions the rest, except archery, have promised to do so by June 30, 2013. There is now no dispute regarding the Sports Code.
Even the IOA is no longer averse to the age and tenure restrictions of the Sports Code. We have all come here today with a common agreement. The IOA constituents have agreed to amend the constitution of the IOA to incorporate some age and tenure restrictions. These restrictions are exactly those that are in the IOC constitution. Once the amendments are carried through, and I have no doubt that they will be; the directives of the High Court will no longer be needed, as they will have voluntarily been accepted by the members of the IOA.
I would like to remind this gathering that this issue had been discussed with the IOC in 2010 as well. The IOC had approved a set of amendments to the IOC constitution which were unfortunately not incorporated in the IOA constitution. Today’s issues would have been a thing of the past, had that been done. Still, today is a step forward and let us all welcome the future rather than dwell on lost opportunities.
There is however, one piece of unfinished business that I must bring up. In 2010, the IOC had agreed that the Electoral Roll of the IOA would be amended. The State Olympic Associaions would not have a vote any longer and the NSF would be the voters of the IOA. Subsequently, the IOA proposed a modification of this principle and now we have a situation where the State Olympic Associations also have a vote, even though the NSF have a total voting power more than the SOA. Our view is that this still leads to anomalies and manipulation. We would like a situation where the governance of Sports in India must be in the hands of its Sports Federations and in the case of the IOA, sports federations that administer Olympic sports. I would urge the IOC to take up this matter with the IOA and bring these changes about.
Finally a word about the proposed Sports Bill. There has been a fair amount of un-informed criticism of the attempt of the Government to bring about legislation to govern the working of the NSF. I believe much of the criticism would have vanished, if the aggrieved persons had read the brief to the Drafting Committee. We would like three major issues to be addressed in the Sports Bill. The first is a common code of ethics, the second is an independent body to conduct elections and the third is a dispute resolution mechanism. None of these are possible without legislation. We need that piece of legislation to bring about the basic theme that I had set out initially – Good Governance, Transparency and Accountability.
But let me assure you of something. There will be widespread consultations before any attempt is made to bring a bill before the Indian Parliament. We will consult individual Sports Federations, the IOA and the general public. Every view will be considered and wherever possible, discussed with the concerned body or individual. I have already asked the IOC to be a part of the Drafting Committee and I reiterate that invitation today. We will also send the draft bill to the IOC and invite their comments before finalising the bill that will go before Parliament. But let me point out, that we don’t even have a draft with us today. It’s a bit premature to pass judgement at this stage. When a draft is ready, we will make it available and we will invite criticism. It is not something that we plan to do in haste, although to us, the need for such a bill is apparent.
We are at the crossroads of change in the way India Sports is administered in India. We come to you with a common understanding. We hope the IOC will also assist us in bringing about the changes and when we do, allow Indian sportspersons to compte under the Indian Flag.”
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