The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports’ decision to suspend the recognition of the beleaguered Table Tennis Federation of India does not come as much of a surprise as its falling back on the provisions of the now redundant National Sports Development Code of India 2011 to base its action.
Its right to reject the TTFI response to its show cause notice as inadequate is not in question, but the instrument under which its decision has been executed can come under intense scrutiny. For, when President gave her assent to the National Sports Governance Act 2025 on August 18 last, the National Sports Development Code of India 2011 was effectively consigned to history.
The Sports Code, as it was known, was overtaken when the National Sports Governance Act 2025 was notified. However, the tardy progress in searching for and appointing the National Sports Board has led to this piquant – and possibly infirm in the eyes of law – situation, with the Ministry reviving the Sports Code to deal with an errant Federation.
While the Ministry’s decision to grant provisional recognition to a National Sports Federation under the provisions of the Sports Code may not have raised eyebrows, derecognising the Table Tennis Federation of India has drawn more eyeballs to its action of dusting the Sports Code and bringing it out of the woodwork.
The recourse to the National Sports Development Code of India 2011 is a tacit admission by the officials of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports that they have been sluggish when it comes to giving wings to the National Sports Governance Act 2025 and the National Sports Governance (National Sports Bodies) Rules 2026.
Nearly nine months after the National Sports Governance Act 2025 was notified, the Ministry framed and notified rules defining the composition of the National Sports Board, the selection process of the Chairperson and the members, their powers and functions. And despite the lapse of three months, there appears to be no sign of the National Sports Board being formed.
Ironically, at a time when the Ministry officials expect National Sports Federations to stick to specified timelines for many factors like elections, posting of audited statement of accounts, they themselves have been slow and contributed to a governance vacuum of sorts without the National Sports Board, the National Sports Election Panel and the National Sports Tribunal being formed.
The Act has been spoken of as the biggest reform in sports governance since Independence. It was brought in to revamp sports administration and strengthen transparency, accountability, and athlete-centric governance. However, the inadequate progress in its implementation appears to have led to the inexplicable decision to place reliance on the Sports Code.
Illustration (Showing clock being set back): Created with Google Gemini
