Sports play a significant role in the routine life of people. All have different perspective for sports some equate it with entertainment and some has chooses it as their carrier and development. There are some sports which are based on physical strength such as badminton cricket etc. whereas some needs mental strength like chess.
Sports Law relates to the sporting activities in India. Sports law is the new introduction in the field of law as people are keeping it as a profession instead of source of entertainment. There are various laws which are provided by our Indian legislation and many are yet to come.
Why there is a need of Sports Law in India?
Every opportunity comes up with some difficulties and problems similarly the recent emerging career also brings some difficulties with it such as harassment in sports, injury liability of player, endorsement and advertising etc, therefore there is a need for sports law that can regulate all these activities.
National Sports Policy:
A resolution was passed to pass national sports policy in 1984 that will be reviewed after every 5 years so that the necessary changes can be done, but it was never implemented.
After that a new policy was drafted named National Sports Policy, 2001. The policy was drafted to regulate sports in India and it has primarily 3 objectives:
- To define the areas of responsibility for all those agencies who looked after the promotion.
- Find sports federation that can help in reaching the objective, moreover lays down the procedure followed by these federation.
- The criteria on which the grants will be release by the Government to these federations.
After the implementation of the policy various initiatives have been taken by Central Government such as making physical education as a compulsory subjects in school for making students aware about the importance of sports in our life, promotion was done on large scale.
Constitutional take on Sports Law:
As such there is no specific provision in Constitution of India regarding sports law; however, sports is included in the 7th schedule Entry 33 under the concurrent list i.e. state or centre can make laws regarding sports.
And also the right is guaranteed under Article 226 of Indian Constitution to approach High Court for the issues related to sports.
What are the authorities related to sports?
- Sports law and Welfare Association of India: The association is non profit organisation that works on smooth implementation of sports law in India. The organisation works at national level to promote ethical activities related to sports. Moreover it helps in resolving legal issues that a person might be going through by bringing legal practitioner and sports person together.
- Sports broadcasting Law in India: The Sports Broadcasting Signals Act came into existence in 2007 for mandatory broadcasting of sports event on Prasar Bharti that has national importance. The main purpose of this is to gather large crowd and promoting sport events.
- Sports authority of India: It is an apex body set up by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to promote sports activities in India. The authority lays down provisions for the youth to direct their energy to achieve excellence in sports.
- Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports: The Ministry is responsible for formulating polices on sports in India. Moreover the department is established under the ministry which is responsible for giving away awards related to sports.
National Sports Development Code, 2011: The enactment is done under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports for regulating sports in India. Under this the provisions are made to regulate law in India, provisions for offences in sports, harassment of female players etc. and their punishments respectively.
Arbitration and Conciliation Act: Arbitration is the legal way in which parties can resolve their dispute out of the court involving third party of their choice known as arbitrator and the award given by arbitrator is binding on both the parties. There can be two types of arbitration one is national and another is international. In national the dispute is arise in India and the disputed parties are also from India whereas in international the concepts of other countries are involved.
The main purpose of resolving these cases in arbitration is to reduce the burden of court in respect to sports and also to ensure speedy trial. Following this purpose the Court of Arbitration for Sports 1983 is established. However the court proved ineffective in resolving dispute in Sushil Kumar v. Union of India case and therefore the introduction of Sports Arbitration Centre of India 2021 is established. The effectiveness of the new centre is yet to be adjudged.
Conclusion:
The scope of sports law is increasing day by day, various provisions are laid down by the Government of India but still there is a need of changes and introduction of new India in the concerned field. Various matters remain hidden on which there is no law such as fixing matches, bidding, sexual harassment of female players etc. Moreover there are a lot of discrimination in the star players and the new players therefore the laws should be made that protects the rights of sports person irrespective of the concept that they are star player or not.
– Surbhi Singla
Associate at Aggarwals and Associates, S.A.S. Nagar, Mohali
