Sports code that is in best interest of all will be put in place, says Kiren Rijiju

Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju on Friday said that the government is open to relaxing the clause in the proposed National Sports Code which prohibits ministers, Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assembly to take part in the sports administration in the country. Ahead of his first-ever formal meeting with officials of National Sports Federations (NSF) and Indian Olympic Association (IOA), Rijiju said that a sports code that is in the best interest of all will be put in place by the government.

“We can’t single out any profession with regards to governance of the sport. It would be wrong to say that businessmen cannot take part in sports federations or politicians and officers cannot take part then who will run sport.

“It is not about the profession it is about how suitable one is to run the sports federation. We cannot single out any person of any background. What is in the best interest of sport will be put in the sports code,” Rijiju said to PTI.

The majority of the NSFs are against the age cap of 70 years for President, Secretary, and Treasurer and tenure limit of 12 years in the 2017 draft sports code, besides the clause which bars politicians and bureaucrats from holding office in IOA and NSFs. The Minister said that there is no middle path that could be found for stakeholders, the sports code will be “universally acceptable” and “suitable for sports” without causing any controversy.

“Why courts are intervening in sporting matters? If they are required to intervene it means there is a failure of sports mechanism,” he said. Rijiju has assured that the “sports code will be reviewed with full consensus.” 

Asked if IOA coming under the ambit of the sports code would amount to government interference, therefore risking its affiliation with the International Olympic Committee, Rijiju said, “There is something called sovereignty. Can anything function out of that?”