Sports Legislation in India and Time to Address the Challenges of 21st Century

Abstract

Law has to play a functional role in every sphere of human life. In other words, law is everywhere from cradle to grave of a man. Sports is a physical activity where two teams compete with each other, are like two firms, produce a single product called "game" weighted by the revenues derived from the fair play. Under the seventh schedule of the Constitution of India, sports is a state subject under the State List, granting states the exclusive power to enact laws concerning sports. But ironically, there is no national or state legislation for the regulation of sports in India till date. This field is still regulated under different laws such as labour law, contract law, criminal law, public law, administrative law, competition law, intellectual property rights law, law of torts, media law, company law, human rights law etc. Analysis provides that the sports in India is governed and regulated by the followings:

• National Sports Policy
• Sports Law and Welfare Association of India
• Sports Authority of India
• The Sports Broadcasting Law in India

In the 21^st century, Sports sector continue to face challenges such as match fixing, doping, corruption, sexual harassment of female players etc. It has been observed that the intense competition in sports has allured the players to resorting to illegal and unethical practices for winning the game by hook or crook. The Sports Associations were built on principle of ethics, morality and talent, emphasising for fair play. However, the evils like labour disputes, drug usage, sexual harassment and lack of accountability among sports bodies still persist. National Sports Federations require revolutionary reforms. The serious aberration is the control by the politicians over these bodies. This is a biggest hurdle in the fair play of pious activity. For the better regulation, there is an immediate need to place sports in concurrent list of the Constitution of India for managing the challenges and issues of 21^st century in effective manner. This paper analyses the critical issues and challenges related to the field of sports in the light of judicial pronouncements and further suggests remedial measures/reforms to be adopted in sports jurisprudence by the law makers of the country for the revival of the glory of sports in India.