New law on sports governance a good attempt to clean the mess

MISMANAGEMENT, misconduct and lack of transparency have been the bane of Indian sports administration for decades. The National Sports Governance Bill, passed by Parliament this week, aims to set things right at long last with an athlete-centric approach. It provides for the setting up of the National Sports Board (NSB), an independent regulatory authority that will have overriding powers to grant or suspend recognition of various national sports federations (NSFs) and also collaborate with international federations for the welfare of athletes. The ills plaguing some NSFs have adversely impacted the training and performance of players. An obvious example is the Wrestling Federation of India, whose then chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh — a BJP MP at that time — was accused of sexual harassment by a group of wrestlers. Brij Bhushan had to step down, but he seemingly continues to call the shots through his successor.