Sports Ministry defends its new Sports Policy

New Delhi: Having drawn flak for its proposed new Sports Policy, the Government on Monday defended the draft and said it should be seen "without prejudice" because it asks even the Sports Ministry to put its house in order.

The Government also said the policy draft did not seek to infringe on the autonomy of sports federation nor did it pass any value judgment.

"The draft should be seen without prejudice. It's not 'you versus me'," Joint Secretary of the Sports Ministry I Srinivas said.

"We are not passing any value judgment or there are no innovative ideas. We have made a bold policy which says every one including the Ministry, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and National Sports Federations (NSFs) need to put their houses in order," Srinivas said.

"So we should not lose focus of the serious matter due to protocol and procedural issues."

Sports Ministry is under fire since it released the new Sports Policy draft on its website last week and invited comments and suggestions from various "stakeholders" such as IOA and NSFs, besides public opinion, before finalising it for the Cabinet's final approval.

"Everything has more than one way to go about and we thought the more appropriate way was to give the base paper after a careful analysis of previous policies of 1984, 1992 and 2001, by identifying their lacunae and addressing the policy gaps."

Emphasising on the "substantive" addressing of the issues, Srinivas refused to agree that there was a need to consult sports bodies before formulating the draft.

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"The Ministry has not invented anything but went through whatever was available. We also looked at foreign models, for instance, Canada, US and Australia.

"Moreover, aren't politicians heading sports federations without being a sportsperson themselves," he argued.

"Why are they (IOA) feeling so hurt and emotional about it when we have not even final. It is bound to be revised after receiving reactions."

Asked why an independent Sports Regulatory Authority was needed when IOA was already there, Srinivas questioned their professionalism.

"IOA should concentrate on professional functioning of sports federations and discipline the indisciplined federations.

"Like International Olympic Committee (IOC) they should ensure bodies concerned with Olympic disciplines in the country are run properly. But they are not doing it.

"Today sports is a matter of public interest and national interest. It can't be left unregulated. By independent regulatory authority we mean which would not tolerate even the Government's interference," he said.

"If a sportsperson is wrong who should she/he go to? Years have passed but many disputes have not been resolved. Then why are they (IOA) intolerant towards trying an alternative mechanism?

"We are not threatening anyone's autonomy but autonomy does not mean unaccountability as well."