National Sports Governance Bill creates legal status for Tribunal members

It seeks to provide accessible and effective mechanisms for resolving sports grievances and disputes.

Who it concerns: The Bill affects National Sports Bodies (including the National Olympic Committee, National Paralympic Committee, National Sports Federations, and Regional Sports Federations), the newly established National Sports Board, the National Sports Tribunal, the National Sports Election Panel, and sportspersons (including athletes and officials).

What the bill does

• Establishment of the National Sports Board to oversee governance and recognize sports organizations.
• Mandatory structural requirements for National Sports Bodies, including a General Body, Executive Committee (with minimum 4 women members), Ethics Committee, Dispute Resolution Committee, and Athletes Committee.
• Creation of the National Sports Tribunal to resolve sports disputes, with its orders executable as a decree and appeals lying to the Supreme Court.
• Establishment of the National Sports Election Panel to oversee free and fair elections for Executive and Athletes Committees.
• Provisions for a Code of Ethics and a Safe Sports Policy for grievance redressal.
• Power of the Board to suspend or cancel recognition of sports organizations and constitute ad hoc administrative bodies.
• Restrictions on the use of national names and insignia.

Also in the document

• The Bill explicitly references alignment with the Olympic Charter and Paralympic Charter.
• It creates a specific legal status for the National Sports Tribunal members as public servants.
• It provides for the transfer of pending cases to the new Tribunal.
• It includes a bar on the jurisdiction of civil courts for matters within the Tribunal's purview.