The list of National Sports Federations (NSF) granted annual recognition by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is out after an inordinate delay. Comprising 54 NSFs, it has ruffled feathers because the ‘annual’ recognition is only until September 30. Besides, the absence of Archery Association of India, Rowing Federation of India and Paralympic Committee of India is glaring.
The continued presence of the Equestrian Federation of India has also raised eyebrows, considering that it not only is in blatant violation of the National Sports Development Code of India 2011 but also may not have met the deadline of March 31 to submit a roadmap for Code-compliance.
In keeping with a February 7 Delhi High Court order that both the Ministry and the Indian Olympic Association should inform the Court when making any decision in relation to the NSFs, the Ministry has filed an affidavit before the Delhi High Court, informing it of the decision to grant recognition to 54 NSFs till September 30 this year.
The Ministry appears to have used the outbreak of the Covid-19 as a veil to explain the delay in finalising the list. It is usual practice for the Ministry to release the list in the first week of February, but, for reasons best known to itself, not this time. The Ministry has had ample time to share the list with the Court since the nation-side lockdown was imposed only from March 25.
It may be a bit of a coincidence, but this is one of the first major decisions made by the Ministry after Ravi Mittal took over as Secretary, Sports, from Radhey Shyam Julaniya a fortnight ago. Of course, he would have depended on a number of people within his department and outside to end the impasse as far as annual recognition of NSFs is concerned.
Quite a few NSFs have raised questions – in private, of course – about the decision to extend the annual recognition only till September 30, particularly after having been made to wait for the first four months of the year. Some others, whose recognition is pending, have been told that this is an ‘unofficial list’.
The election of office-bearers of the Archery Association of India, held on January 18, is pending approval of the Delhi High Court but that does not bar the Ministry from granting it recognition. It is also surprising that the Ministry continues to ignore the Rowing Federation of India after it held re-elections on February 22, particularly after it deputed an observer itself to the elections.
There is no explanation on why it has given the Equestrian Federation of India such a long rope. In February last year, EFI was given time till August 3 to comply with the Code. That deadline passed without notice. Then, in December, the Ministry extended its recognition of EFI till March 31, stating that the federation had time till then to share a roadmap for Code-compliance.
Now, even that deadline has passed with no signs of the EFI sharing any roadmap with the Ministry. There have been some whispers that it may have done that already, but it would be a good guess that a Federation which has drawn flak for not being athlete- and sponsor-friendly would have made a song and dance about the roadmap, if indeed there was one.
It would be important for the Ministry to ensure that it has the same yardstick for all National Sports Federations. In the absence of any classification of sports as ‘peculiar’ or otherwise, the Ministry cannot be seen as making exceptions to Code-compliance. At least not until a new Sports Code comes into effect.
This article first appeared in Mail Today on May 12, 2020.
