By IANS,
Kolkata: Union Sports Minister Ajay Maken Sunday blamed the country’s sports federations for hindering the development of sports and said players who have made India proud would do a far better job.
“Unless we reform the functioning of the national sports federations, sports in this country will continue to lag behind. Unless more and more sportspersons are allowed into administration, we will never achieve sporting glory.
“Why can’t we put the responsibility of running and managing the games on the shoulders of players who have brought laurels to the country? They will do a far better job running the federations than those who do not have a sporting background,” Maken told mediapersons here.
He said draft bill prepared by the government for reforming the functioning of the sports federations will be introduced in the monsoon session of parliament next month.
“In this bill we have said that at least 25 percent of the executive body of any national federation will comprise of sportspersons so that the players have a major role to play in the running and administration of sports in the country,” said Maken, who was in the city to felicitate Bengal players who have won medals in the recently-concluded National Games.
The draft bill aims to make the sports federations public authorities to bring them under the ambit of the Right to Information Act (RTI) Act. The federations will be required to furnish details of their accounts before parliament as well as post them on their websites.
The bill also intends to create a sports ombudsman to ensure transparency in the functioning of the federations.
Taking a jibe at administrators who continue at the helm of various federations for long, Maken said: “Even (former Egyptian president Hossini) Mubarak had to go but we have people who just continue to be the boss, doing nothing.
“We have introduced in the bill, provisions regarding age and tenure. A person beyond the age of 70 or somebody who has completed a term of 12 years would be ineligible to be an office bearer,” said Maken.
The sports minister also blamed the federations for driving away sponsors.
“Corporate houses want to sponsor and invest in sports but because of the functioning of these bodies, they are hesitant. The bill aims at ensuring that the money reaches those who deserve it.”