National Sports Governance Act will ensure sports bodies do not function as fiefdoms

In the Monsoon Session of Parliament, 15 bills were passed. Amongst them was the National Sports Governance Act, 2025. While the Act, which regulates and recognises national sports bodies in India, is not likely to find a place in the list of political “hot potatoes”, its importance cannot be overstated. This is because several national-level sporting federations today enjoy a monopoly and are directly concerned with the selection of teams to represent the country. Though India, while it was under colonial rule, was the first Asian nation to participate in the Olympics in 1900, it was not until this Act was passed that the country had a comprehensive legislation to govern sports bodies.

Before the Sports Governance Act was passed, the administration of sports federations was guided by the National Sports Development Code of India. The Code was, in fact, a set of makeshift rules, hastily drafted by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

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The situation on the ground at that time was deplorable. Sports federations, ranging from national to district associations, became the fiefdom of political satraps and their cronies. Electoral malpractices and misconduct were the norm. Several post holders overstayed their term, and tenure limits were blatantly disregarded. In 2014, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development observed that the majority of the national sporting federations were dominated by non-sportspersons. More than 350 cases related to malpractices in the governance of various sporting federations are currently pending before different courts. In some cases, the courts were compelled to intervene and appoint a Committee of Administrators (CoA) to govern federations as a stop-gap measure, after the position of the erstwhile office bearers had become legally untenable.

Some national sporting federations faced penalties from global agencies. The Wrestling Federation of India was suspended in 2023 due to its failure to hold timely elections. The Amateur Kabaddi Federation of India was also suspended in 2024, as it lacked an elected body. Additionally, in 2022, FIFA suspended the All India Football Federation because it was being governed by court-appointed administrators. The cost of such misgovernance was exacerbated when the Indian Super League 2025-26 was placed in limbo because of litigation pertaining to the AIFF — the Supreme Court directed the agency not to take any major policy decisions until the matter was resolved.

The political satraps do not bear the ultimate cost for such a terrible state of affairs. They merely face the occasional setback of not being able to extend their already extended tenure. The real victims are, in fact, the sportspersons, whose careers are bound by the unforgiving constraints of time and age, and who find their aspirations stifled by misgovernance and unending litigation concerning their federations.

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The passing of the Sports Governance Act is, therefore, a timely relief and represents a watershed moment. It will hopefully address the above-mentioned shortcomings. The Act empowers the Centre to establish a National Sports Board, which will grant recognition to various national sporting federations and their affiliate units. This provision, in particular, will put an end to the protracted battles for legitimacy waged by rival federations within the same sport.

This Act also establishes the National Olympic Committee, the National Paralympic Committee, and the National and Regional Sports Federations for each sport. Each of these bodies has also been mandated to establish a code of conduct in line with the international best practices prevailing in each sport. The Act also mandates that the Executive Committee for every sporting federation must consist of up to 15 members, with at least two outstanding sportspersons and four women. Moreover, the age and tenure limits are also defined to ensure that fresh talent and vigour is inducted in sports administration and that a few office bearers from a particular region, religion, or political affiliation do not have a monopoly over the administration of a sport.

A National Sports Tribunal will be constituted to adjudicate disputes pertaining to sporting federations. This is a landmark provision as it would streamline sports-related litigation by enabling matters to be decided by subject experts. Further, the unending rounds of litigation would be reduced as an appeal against a decision of the National Sports Tribunal would only lie before the Supreme Court. The Sports Governance Act also ensures the oversight of elections of sporting federations, both national and regional, as it seeks to establish a national panel of electoral officers to oversee elections of national sports bodies. It calls upon national sports bodies to constitute a panel to oversee the elections of their affiliates. Disqualification is a significant deterrent for non-compliant federations to ensure that the Act’s provisions are complied with.

As India aspires to host the Commonwealth Games (hopefully with greater integrity, this time) and the Olympic Games in the near future, it is necessary that the infrastructure developed in the country is all-encompassing. Such infrastructure must not be confined merely to brick and mortar, but must also encompass a robust legal framework that places good governance in sporting federations at the forefront. The Act will ensure that sports federations will not remain representatives of the aspirations of a select few political satraps, but of sportspersons of the nation.

The writer is an advocate at the Bombay High Court

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