Parliament Monsoon Session: Govt plans bill for regulator, RTI purview for sports federations

In a bid to rein in sports federation politics, the Centre is likely to introduce a bill in the Monsoon Session of Parliament to establish a sports regulator aimed at ensuring transparency and financial discipline in the administration of sports bodies.

The National Sports Governance Bill also proposes bringing all sports federations under the purview of the RTI Act, barring certain matters such as team selection, performance, injury, and medical records of sportspersons.

On Tuesday, the Union Cabinet approved the new Khelo Bharat Niti 2025, which also advocates a regulatory framework, including legislation for the governance of sports federations.


Originally mooted by the sports ministry last year, the bill proposes three key mechanisms:

• Sports Regulatory Body of India
• Athletes Commission
• Appellate Sports Tribunal

The SRBI will regulate and recognise national and state-level Olympic, Paralympic, and other sports federations. It will be a five-member body chaired by the Sports Secretary, with one Khel Ratna awardee and one Dronacharya awardee among its members.

The body will be empowered to uphold ethical, financial, and governance standards in sports bodies.

The bill also proposes the formation of athlete commissions for each discipline, which will have representation within the corresponding sports federations.

Another major provision is the establishment of a three-member Appellate Sports Tribunal, headed by a retired Supreme Court judge.

This is not the first attempt at regulating sports governance. During UPA-2, then sports minister Ajay Maken had proposed a similar bill mandating fair and transparent elections in federations. However, it faced opposition from within the government and never made it to Parliament.