The story so far: The sports administration in India was in the headlines frequently these past few weeks all for the wrong reasons. Both the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) face potential ban/suspension if elections to the executive body are not done immediately. Hockey India has also come under scrutiny by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) for the delay in conducting elections.

What happened?

A seven-member delegation of the world football governing body FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation had come to the country last month for a meeting with the Committee of Administrators (CoA). The CoA was entrusted with the running of football by the Supreme Court after the executive committee of the AIFF was dissolved for violating the Central government’s sports code. It was mandated that by July 31, the amendments to the AIFF’s new constitution have to be made and the elections for the national football body completed by September 15. If not, India would face a FIFA ban.

The IOA is also being warned of a possible suspension by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOA elections, scheduled to have been held last December, have not been conducted yet. The recent letter from the IOC to the executive council members of the IOA expressed concerns about the multiple legal proceedings that caused delays and created unnecessary complications.

The FIH wrote to the CoA, which is currently administrating hockey in the country as the Delhi High Court found Hockey India’s executive board in violation of the National Sports Code. The letter from the FIH stresses on the need to have elections based on the rules laid down by the Indian government. It also raised concerns about Hockey India getting its act together before the 2023 World Cup, which India is scheduled to host in January.

What is the Sports Code?

The Sports Code, or National Sports Development Code of India to be precise, was introduced in 2011 by the Central government, which wanted good governance practices in the management of sports at the national level without interfering in the autonomy of the national sports bodies. It was widely accepted that such a sports code was needed as it was felt that most of the sports federations had become personal fiefdoms of certain individuals — many of them politicians — as they continued to remain in power for long periods. The National Spots Code laid down restrictions regarding age and tenure.

What happens when a sports body is found to be in violation of the Sports Code?

The respective federations can be put under a CoA. That is what happened with the football and hockey associations. Last May, the Supreme Court had appointed a three-member CoA led by former Supreme Court judge A.R. Dave to run the AIFF, whose president Praful Patel had to resign. The Sports Ministry in an affidavit had said that Mr. Patel continuing in his post would be in violation of the Sports Code as he had been the president for more than 12 years.

In a similar fashion, the Delhi High Court observed that the Sports Code was violated by Hockey India and a CoA was formed to run the game’s administration in India.

Why was Narinder Batra, a veteran Indian sports administrator, in the news recently?

On July 18, Mr. Batra resigned from the IOC, IOA and FIH. He was the president of FIH and the IOA and a member of the IOC. He cited personal reasons for his resignation, which came a couple of weeks after the Delhi High Court refused to stay the order that had barred him from officiating as the IOA president. The court had earlier ruled his appointment as a life member of Hockey India as illegal. Mr. Batra has been one of India’s most influential sports administrators in recent times, but things aren’t going well for him now. On the day of his multiple resignations, the CBI registered a case against him for alleged misappropriation of Hockey India’s funds (₹35 lakh).

What have been the previous instances where a CoA was formed for administering sports bodies?

In February, the Delhi High court appointed Gita Mittal as the chairperson of the CoA to run the Table Tennis Federation of India, which was suspended following an inquiry into the match-fixing allegations raised by one of India’s leading players, Manika Batra. She had alleged that national coach Soumyadeep Roy had asked her to throw her match to Sutirtha Mukherjee so that the latter could qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

In 2017, the Supreme Court had appointed a CoA to implement the reforms in the administration of cricket in the country suggested by the Justice R.M. Lodha committee. The CoA consisted of Vinod Rai, Ramachandra Guha, Vikram Limaye and Diana Edulji. However, Mr. Guha resigned the committee a few months later. The Lodha committee had been appointed in 2015 following the report submitted by the Justice Mukul Mudgal Committee that investigated the IPL spot-fixing scandal in 2013. The CoA’s tenure came to an end in 2019 with former India captain Sourav Ganguly being elected as the BCCI president and Jay Shah as its secretary.