Opinion The twain mustn’t meet

The unpleasant nexus between sports and politics has been Indian sports fans’ biggest bane in recent times. Be it hockey, boxing, archery, athletics, shooting or even cricket — no sport in the country has remained unaffected by politics.

On March 1, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh called for the shifting of the India-Pakistan tie from the state. Sri Lanka is not allowed to feature in cricket matches in Chennai but in Pakistan’s case, any series anywhere in any sport is ruled out. The International Olympic Committee had banned the Indian Olympic Association in December 2012 due to “government interference and bad governance”, after tainted officials were elected to key posts in the IOA. In 2008, Hockey India took over the authority of staging hockey in India from the long-established Indian Hockey Federation. The routine and unprofessional sacking of coaches and the mismanagement of state units are common complaints. Former players have been crying foul, but no one is listening.

I have been drawing the government’s attention to the continuing mess in various sports bodies, which has been demoralising sportsmen/ women, who have to remain in the good books of the mandarins in order to retain their spot in the respective teams. Even after retirement, when they are trying to serve the game, players have to act as lackeys. Practically all the sports federations are controlled by politicians and their cronies, whose interest in involving themselves in various federations defies logic. Pick any sport and you would find non-sportspersons lording over players and former players. And this has been the norm for many years. The National Capital Territory Cricket Association led by the legendary former Indian captain, Bishan Singh Bedi, had decided to contest the elections to the Delhi and District Cricket Association’s (DDCA) executive body in 2013. But he was trounced by a clique led by petty shopkeepers and small-time businessmen who have been perpetuating themselves for the last 35 years. Looting sports federations is a low-risk and high-profit affair. That is why we find the same individuals dominating various sports federations, even when they have nothing to do with any of those sporting disciplines.

Many sports administration bodies are registered either as cooperatives or as Section 25 (not-for-profit) companies under the Companies Act, 2013. The elections to these bodies are held in an extremely vitiated atmosphere. More often than not, new office-bearers are connected to previous office-bearers. Elections are, therefore, only a formality, and mostly based on the proxy system — whoever collects the proxies, wins the elections.

The results are a foregone conclusion.

Sports cannot be mixed up with the toothless Companies Act, 2013. The funding of sports bodies is through government grants, sales of tickets and advertisements or financial support of individuals, corporate houses and PSUs. A separate law is required to be passed by Parliament. If that takes time, all sports federations, including the state bodies of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), should be asked to register themselves under the Societies Registration Act, 1860.

Elections must be conducted directly by the members present and voting.

Based on my repeated pleading, the ministry of corporate affairs has written to the ministry of youth affairs and sports several times, advising the latter to frame a separate law to govern various sports bodies. But the proposal is pending for more than two years. The government needs to take urgent steps to stop the misuse of Section 25 under the Companies Act, 2013, which allows third-rate politicians and petty businessmen to perpetuate themselves in sports bodies.

The R.M. Lodha Committee’s recommendation on revamping the BCCI’s functioning, if implemented, will help ease the vice-like grip of politicians. Today, March 18, therefore, is an extremely important day for all sports lovers, as we fervently pray for the Supreme Court to provide the necessary directive.