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Newslaundry
Newslaundry
National
Shivnarayan Rajpurohit

Fair game? What political control of India’s sports federations tells us

Last month, the Wrestling Federation of India was in the eye of the storm as wrestlers protested against its chief and BJP MP Brijbhushan Sharan Singh. Allegations pertaining to sexual harassment, funding and sponsorship were made and rejected. But the episode put the spotlight on the age-old debate: who should lead sports bodies? Politicians, bureaucrats or sportspersons? 

The National Sports Development Code of India, or sports code, was implemented in 2011, but several sports bodies are yet to comply. The chief aim of the sports code – an amalgamation of government notifications on how NSFs should be run – is to end the hegemony of entrenched sports administrators and hold transparent polls with adequate representation from sports. 

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