Given the mess in Indian cricket, this will introduce transparency and grievance-redressal for everyone - but since regulators often tend to toe the government line, there are risks involved.
Nandan Kamath
Co-founder, GoSports
A sports regulator for governance norms and a dispute-resolution process is vital — this was proposed in 2007 but never implemented
Given the nature of the current allegations surrounding improprieties in cricket administration, Indian sport now faces its biggest financial and political crisis thus far. However, Indian sports federations, across the board, are no strangers to the various issues of transparency, integrity and due process that have been raised in the present instance. As unfortunate as this state of being might be, I feel that some good could still emerge.
Taking a step back, most of our country’s sports governing bodies are private membership organisations. They claim monopolistic rights over the administration of their respective sports with the very same vigour with which they assert their autonomy. This is the perfect recipe for fiefdoms where power can be exercised without responsibility. In the lack of basic governance protocols and public accountability, possibly lies the cause of the pitiable state of Indian sport which, in most cases, shows little progress and in a handful of others, has perhaps seen unaccountable growth. With the integrity of sport having been brought to the forefront of national importance, we have now been presented with a prime opportunity to reorient Indian sports administration so that it can focus on its two most important stakeholders — the sportsperson and the sports fan.
Ours is a nation that is not lacking in talent. From my limited experience in the field of sports talent representation, this certainly extends to sports talent. Unfortunately, talent is only a necessary but not a sufficient condition for sporting success. Although many of our most talented sportspersons have brought themselves to the doorstep of success by dint of single-minded pursuit, however hard they try, some doors have remained shut to them. Being an Indian sports fan has, for the most part, been an equally frustrating pursuit.
The role of a sports federation ought to be that of finding the right talent, grooming it over the years, supporting it when support is needed the most and creating the right platforms for it to succeed. This enables talent to deliver, engage with the public imagination and thereby contribute to the development of the sport’s ecosystem. Unfortunately, our sports bodies have largely failed to prioritise this core administrative function of connecting sporting talent to sports fans.
A significant change of perspective can sometimes come from introspection but, after a point, is probably best externally enforced. Given the public interest function of sports federations, and the common issues of concern across the whole set of our federations, I believe it is now opportune for the government to step in meaningfully and responsibly. Just as Sebi regulates public markets and public companies, the time is ripe for a public regulator for Indian sports bodies. Whether or not the federations are publicly-funded, they hold public trust and must be accountable and subject to basic checks and balances. In fact, a body of this sort (the “Sports Regulatory Authority of India”) was proposed by the sports ministry in the Draft Comprehensive National Sports Policy 2007. At the time, it was summarily rejected for want of political will. Perhaps we have been given a cause to be a little more willing now?
A supervisory body of this sort, even if somewhat unprecedented, can be carefully structured to play a facilitative role rather than one of a micro-manager. It will also need its own internal checks and balances. This sports watchdog can focus on drafting and implementing good governance guidelines for sporting federations, disclosure and reporting standards, disciplinary standards and dispute-resolution procedures. This would include setting and enforcing standards for elections, maximum terms and independence criteria for administrators, professional qualification criteria, institutional transparency and accountability for financial and sporting decisions, controlling corruption in sports, protecting the integrity of results, stadium security and similar matters that contribute to the ultimate objective of delivering value to the sportsperson and the sports fan. This re-prioritisation is a matter of the greatest importance to Indian sport. As things stand, while myopic interests will limit the ability of federations to set their own houses in order, I believe a government regulator can effectively put in place a process that will achieve this goal.
We have reached the tipping point and it is now time we turn the corner. Even though the finish line may not yet be in sight and the course may be full of obstacles known and unknown, this is a race worth running.
GoSports is a sports management firm
Lokesh Sharma
Managing Director, TCM Sports Marketing Co.
Look at the mess in hockey or other games where the government has a role, and decide if you want cricket to suffer the same fate
Indian cricket is reeling from a ferocious onslaught from politicians and media ever since that wonderful brand IPL got itself entangled in the auction mess. From corruption to match-fixing, every conceivable allegation has been made. Some politicians have even demanded that cricket itself be banned. The more magnanimous only want to “nationalise” the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) or appoint a regulatory body. Nothing can be more counter-productive than the suggestion of government intervention.
For, it may make things worse for Indian cricket by making it an outcast in the world scenario. The International Cricket Council (ICC) grants affiliation to national cricket boards and not government institutions just as the Olympic Charter forbids government interference in national sports administration. The Kuwait Olympic Committee was suspended by the International Olympic Committee for suspected government interference in the elections of its national sports bodies. And have we forgotten that South Africa was kept out of the cricket fold because the government insisted that Blacks had no place in the game?
All those who are arguing in favour of government intervention or a regulatory authority need to be reminded that our government has many other priorities to attend to. It has the small matters of running the nation, keeping prices down, dealing with the Maoists in the hinterland and the like.
But you cannot condone corruption. If there are violations of laws of the land, then the government needs to act. Law-enforcement agencies like the Registrar of Societies, the Income Tax department and the Company Affairs Board etcetera can check and prevent financial misdemeanours.
It is strange that at a time when successive governments have emphasised the need to disinvest in the public sector, there should be a campaign for nationalisation of BCCI. Of course, cricket is a national passion but that does not mean the government must take over the running of the cricket Board. Cricket — and more specifically Indian cricket — has always found ways to tackle crises. The best example of this is the match-fixing scandal that broke out in the year 2000. Though there are no laws to deal with sports corruption in India, and though the Central Bureau of Investigation only produced an interim report after its investigation, BCCI went ahead and slapped bans on five individuals. Isn’t that strong evidence of its ability to deal with crises?
BCCI has not done a bad job at all. For a nation that had just five “permanent” Test centres, there are at least a dozen-and-a-half venues capable of staging Test matches and One-Day Internationals. In the last few years alone, new cricket stadiums have come up in Delhi, Indore, Dharamshala, Nagpur, Visakhapatnam and Hyderabad. By the end of the year, the cities of Mumbai, Rajkot and Jamshedpur would have brand new stadiums while Chennai, Kolkata and Bengaluru are refurbishing the existing ones. Many more are on the way. During the same time, the national team has also risen from the ranks.
Today, the Golden Mace for the No 1 Test team sits in the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai. Our one-day side is in the top clutch and India is also the winner of the inaugural T20 World Cup. In recent years, we have also seen the emergence of stars not just from the metros but also from smaller towns like Ranchi, Baroda, Ghaziabad, Allahabad and Rae Bareilly. It is the only sport which has a welfare and pension scheme not just for its international cricketers but also for those who have played first-class cricket. A first-class cricketer who recently retired from Indian Railways informed me that his BCCI pension is more than his last drawn salary! All of this would not have happened with an administration that was either callous or lacked foresight, would it?
Contrast this with other sports that have survived on government dole.
Look at the mess in which Hockey India find itself in, not in the least because the government sought to have a say in how its elections must be held. Look at how our weightlifters have been suspended for dope violations that happen in the camps run by the Sports Authority of India, a government body. And all these sports come closest to being regulated by government since they get their funding from the government. And can anybody explain the mess in the Commonwealth Games?
Indian cricket will be better off wrestling with its problems and finding a solution itself rather than face any form of government intervention in running the sport that binds people better than any religion can.
TCM is a sports management firm
