The draft national sports governance bill 2024 allows office-bearer to continue post 70 years & extends term provision from 12 to 16 years
NEW DELHI: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and national federations (NFs) have for years cited 'autonomy and non-interference' provided in the Olympic charter as convenient reasons behind thwarting any attempt by the govt to interfere in their internal functioning.
But it seems they would no longer be required to return to the tried and tested formula of invoking the Olympic charter to safeguard their interests. A big relaxation in the contentious age and tenure provisions as mandated in the national sports code 2011 and its draft edition introduced in 2017 - which always led to friction and legal battles between the IOA/NSFs and the govt - is on its way.
TOI has reliably learnt that the sports ministry has proposed to provide relaxation in age and tenure clause in the first-ever National Sports Governance Bill, 2024, the draft of which it intends to table in the Budget session of the Parliament next year.
According to the bill, the office bearers of NSFs - including president, secretary general and treasurer - can continue in their posts even after attaining the age of 70 to complete their respective terms. The office bearers don't have to relinquish office after reaching the age of 70.
For example, if an office-bearer contests for a position in a sports federation and he/she is even 69 years and 364 days old at the time of his/her election after the voting, the person can continue to complete the full mandated term.
Earlier, according to the draft sports code 2017, the upper limit of age was kept at 70 years and a federation was required to call for an election midway to appoint a new office-bearer the moment the person in the position touched the age of 70. Now, the office-bearer would no longer be required to step down.
Similarly, the proposed governance bill also provides for relaxation in tenure. Now, an office-bearer can continue in his/her post for a total of 16 years as opposed to the earlier tenure restriction of nine/12 years.
As per the earlier provision, the tenure of an official can be a maximum of three terms - 12 years to be precise - in the case of a president without the cooling-off period. In the case of secretary, treasurer and other office bearers, there can be a maximum of two terms of three years each after which the person was required to go for a mandatory cooling-off period of three years before returning to serve one more term of three years.
In the new draft, the tenure of an office-bearer has been extended from three to four years. Now, an office-bearer can have two terms of four years each before going for a mandatory cooling-off period of four years. He/she can return to serve another two terms of four years each as an office bearer, which will take the total tenure count to 16 years. This age and tenure relaxation will not apply only to the president, secretary and treasurer but the entire Executive Committee of an NSF.
In 2020, the IOA and the country's 57 NSFs had moved the court against the age and tenure restrictions provided in the 2017 draft of the sports code. The restriction was applicable to all officials. The IOA had even changed its constitution at that time to safeguard the interest of NSFs which formed part of its electoral college, and provided that an official can hold his or her office for 20 years without any cooling-off period.
Before introducing the governance bill, the ministry will put it in public domain for consultation before preparing a cabinet note. Then, the bill will be circulated among the stakeholders before being sent for vetting to the law ministry. According to sources, it will not be sent to the departmentally-related Standing Committee of the Parliament before tabling it in the Budget session.
