Fear of elections in NOC, NSFs
Another sticky issue would be aligning the constitution of NOCs, NSFs and other stakeholders up to the district level. The executive committee of the Indian Olympics Association, including its president, is busy fighting but if the Bill comes into force they will be the ones most affected.

It might lead to fresh elections because the composition of the EC is different from the one that is in place. The Bill, if enacted, will lead to changes in the voting members of the general body. This more or less applies to the NSFs as well. They too need to change the constitution to incorporate provisions of the draft Bill.

Sportspersons less than 25%?
“At least 10% of the General Body and Voting Members of the NOC shall be constituted by sportspersons of outstanding merit (SOMs) to be elected by the Athletes Commission of the NOC as representatives (half of whom shall be female representatives and half of whom shall be male representatives).” — Draft Bill.

The Sports Code mandates a minimum of 25 per cent representation of SOMs in the general body of the IOA. This was backed by the Delhi High Court who in its 16.08.2022 order stated that 25 per cent representation is an indicative figure. “It sets the bare minimum that must be ensured. There is no bar to this number increasing,” said the order. In fact, the order had said that it is desirable to have SOMs “equal to at least the NSFs representing Olympic sports.” In the last IOA election, there were 33 NSFs with 66 voting members (one male and one female).

The IOA where fierce infighting is going on between the president and the EC members, has eight distinguished sportspersons, including three Olympic medallists.

There is no restrictive clause, which means anybody can come and contest. And with no cap on term (12 years) like in the new IOA constitution, officials can continue to be administrators as long as they want. Something the Sports Code had been advocating against. Another point that may have put the NSFs on the back foot is the provision wherein all associations including state and district units must be affiliated with the SRBI. Since sports is a state subject under the Indian Constitution, it needs to be seen what kind of jurisdiction the SRBI would have in admitting or recognising state/district units of an NSF.

The change in term and tenure could be another point of discussion. As highlighted by this newspaper, the term of 12 year that was incorporated in the IOA constitution could be replaced if the Bill is enforced. An officer bearer now is eligible to contest after two four-year terms with a four-year cooling off period, seemingly, over and over again.

Relaxation policy
The draft Bill also has a provision to relax norms for ‘promotion of sport’. This could help federations like the Yachting Association of India, Equestrian Federation of India who have been requesting the sports ministry to relax certain provisions of the Sports Code because of the ‘peculiar nature’ of the sport.

The draft Bill says, “The Central Government shall have the power to relax any of the provisions of any rules prescribed hereunder, in whole or part, as a special exemption where considered necessary and expedient for the promotion of sports, sportspersons or to remove difficulties in the rules…” This could lead to more federations demanding relaxations and government relaxing more norms. It could be tricky.