BCCI writes to Sports Ministry on Sports Bill

The BCCI, which had rejected the revised Sports Bill last week, wrote a letter to the Sports Ministry, conveying their strong reservations on various aspects of the controversial bill.

New Delhi: The BCCI, which had rejected the revised Sports Bill last week, today wrote a letter to the Sports Ministry, conveying their strong reservations on various aspects of the controversial bill.

The Cricket Board had rejected the bill at its Working Committee meeting in Kolkata on October 29, saying certain aspects of the bill are meant to "destroy the autonomy" of the board. "While the BCCI is all for good governance and transparency in sports bodies, certain aspects of the Bill seek to destroy the autonomy of the Board and dilute the rights of its members," BCCI secretary Sanjay Jagdale had said in a statement after the Board`s Working Committee meeting. "Therefore the Board is totally opposed to this Bill and will be communicating its objections to the Ministry of Youth Affairs & shortly.” The BCCI on Friday shot off a 29-page letter to the Sports Minister Ajay Maken, giving in detail their reasons for objecting the bill which seeks to regulate the functioning of sports bodies. According to sources, the strongly-worded letter takes a dig at the Sports Ministry for trying to bring cricket under its ambit. The letter points out that the BCCI was not required to be brought under RTI as it was transparent and its accounts were put up on its website. It also followed the tenure and age restrictions as envisaged in the bill with all the office bearers having limited tenures. "It has to be borne in mind that "Sports" is a State subject and the legislative competence of Central Government is limited. The bill tends to encroach upon fundamental rights of Sports bodies," Jagdale had said. Relations between the BCCI and sports ministry have been strained over the contentious issue. BCCI, which is an autonomous body, and some other sports organisations such as Indian Olympic Association (IOA) have opposed the legislation. The IOA had in fact termed the revised bill a "cruel joke". The bill was revised after the cabinet did not give its approval. The proposed bill wants to give BCCI the status of a National Sports Federation and therefore bring it under the purview of the RTI Act. PTI