Sports activities Invoice: Will the uber-rich BCCI be able to play ‘simply one other sports activities physique’?

The a lot talked about Nationwide Sports activities Governance Invoice, tabled by union sports activities and youth affairs minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya on the Parliament on Wednesday, is supposed to be a gamechanger. Nevertheless, the hypothesis for now’s whether or not the Board of Management for Cricket in India (BCCI) — the richest administrative physique on the planet of cricket, with a projected whole income of Rs 10,054 crore on its 2024-25 steadiness sheet — will likely be able to act as simply one other Nationwide Sports activities Federation (NSF) beneath the ministry.

After years of sustaining its standalone standing, there’s now no choice for the BCCI however to affix the 45 Nationwide Sports activities Federations (NSFs), with cricket having been integrated as an Olympic sport for the Los Angeles 2028 Video games. The attraction of cricket, each for women and men, is anticipated to be India’s calling card in its marketing campaign for the 2036 Olympics — however there are a number of unanswered questions that the BCCI has to ponder.

As an uber-rich sports activities physique that doesn’t must depend upon funding from the ministry, will the BCCI be able to report back to the Indian Olympic Affiliation (IOA), the umbrella sports activities physique of the nation which is embroiled in its personal mess? What occurs to the longstanding grouse over the cricket board having fun with a tax exemption because it was registered beneath beneath the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act of 1975?

The proposed Invoice additionally says that every one disputes vis-à-vis the governance of the NSFs, together with the BCCI, will likely be resolved by a proposed Nationwide Sports activities Tribunal and they’re going to come beneath the purview of the Union authorities’s Proper to Info (RTI) Act of 2005. The BCCI has lengthy resisted RTI, citing its monetary independence, and steadfastly refused to affix rank with the NSFs previously, regardless of sending groups for participation within the 1998 Commonwealth Video games and the 2023 Asian Video games, as an example — on the grounds that they don’t want authorities funding for coaching, journey or some other ancillary bills.