New Delhi. Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the government is keen to bring a sports bill in the budget session of Parliament and is ready to make changes in some norms so that more Indian sports administrators can get bigger roles in international bodies. “I don’t want to let sports suffer,” he said. 95 percent people want the Sports Bill to come. Yes, there are some small objections from some NSF (National Sports Federation) side, which we will take care of. ,
Speaking to the media, Mandaviya said, “There are some clauses in the provision of age of 70 years which we need to consider. For example, it took 50 years for a person like Randhir Singh to establish rapport on the international stage. He worked for so many years and now he has become the President of Olympic Council of Asia (OCA). Soon after becoming the OCA chief, Singh had asked the government to reconsider its policy under which the tenure of elected sports federation officials is limited to three terms of four years each.
He said this is a major hurdle for Indian sports administrators to achieve bigger roles in international bodies. Singh had said that 12 years is a very short time for a sports administrator to make his mark at the national level. According to the Sports Code, an NSF chief can hold office for a maximum of 12 years or three terms of four years each. Apart from this, the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer of NSF step down from the post on attaining the age of 70 years. The Sports Minister said, “If I don’t consider this (Singh’s suggestion) then no one from India can contribute to international sports. Therefore, the rule of 70 years does not apply to anyone who is on the international stage.