INTRODUCTION
The model of governance in sports in India was formed due to the synthesis of many aspects, which include both the system of colonial governance, as well as institutional developments since independence, and government participation into sport-related affairs relatively recently. Despite some achievements and growing involvement into sports, as well as some worldwide success, the structure of governance of sports remains rather fragmented and relies primarily on independent federations, which could not always ensure their accountability. Consequently, there was an issue that political interests remained the priority concern for governing bodies rather than organizational effectiveness and other ethical aspects.
Presently, the governance of sports in India is structured based on the efforts of NSFs, IOA, SAI, and some associations at the state level. Such organizations are independent but are significantly influenced by governmental funding and governmental assistance. The result of this fact is that a dual governance system is implemented, which leads to frequent disagreements between governing bodies and governmental authorities. In this case, the government takes part in dispute management using different tools.1 The major issues in sports administration that have plagued India are those of inconsistency and non-professionalism of laws in sports administration. While other countries have implemented laws to guide their sporting system, India had no choice but to apply her executive orders in the administration of sports. Inconsistency in the application of laws and overlapping jurisdiction in the execution of laws have become commonplace.
The justification for conducting this study is the need for governance reforms in the sports organizations in India. While there has been considerable progress in sports being recognized as a profession and as one of national pride, inefficiencies, lack of professionalism, lack of transparency, and accusations of corruption continue to be problems in the administration of sports. Lack of proper policy framework will continue to perpetuate such issues. This study is significant from both policy and academic perspectives because it contributes to the ongoing discussion on governance reforms in Indian sports management.2
Statement of the Problem
This problem can be viewed as the inevitable consequence of the inefficiencies in sports governance structure in India. There is no transparency and accountability various the sports organizations, such as the national federations. Besides, there are conflicts in this industry caused by the lack of proper regulations and administrative management in sports organizations, which makes it necessary to seek court assistance. However, the underlying cause of the issues in this sphere is the lack of an adequate statutory body for sports regulation in India.
The idea of passing the National Sports Governance Act has been suggested in order to eliminate the inefficiencies of the current sports administration system. This Act aims at developing proper regulations for the sports organizations. Although the Act seems rather promising on paper, it may face numerous problems when being implemented in practice. Thus, the question raised in this study is whether the new Act can help address the governance issues that have appeared in Indian sports.
Literature Review
Nanavati and Rangaswamy (2025)3 highlights the flaws in the structure of the sports industry in India, with special reference to the issues associated with inadequate availability of data, inadequate capability for data analysis, and inadequate coordination among various players. It is clear from this discussion that the absence of an effective data structure system affects the process of decision making.
Roy (2026)4critically analyzes the deeply entrenched governance problem faced by sports administration in India, emphasizing the problem of political intervention in National Sports Federations. The paper points out how the existence of politicians in leadership positions has undermined the autonomy, integrity, and meritocracy of decision-making within sports governance systems. This paper is extremely relevant to the current study since it stresses the importance of having an organized legal regime such as the NSG Act, 2025.
Chanda and Shrivastava (2025)5 critically examine the NSG Act, 2025 from a legal perspective to ascertain whether the legislation represents genuine reform or a ploy by the state to regulate sports organizations. The paper is relevant for this study because it offers a neutral assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the legislation, hence making it highly significant.
Anand and Joshi (2025)6 examine the NSG Act, 2025 through examining the differences between its purposes and the problems related to the implementation of the Act. The findings of this research indicate that despite the Act’s introduction of several reforms such as good governance, regulation, and accountability, many problems are associated with the implementation and enforcement of the Act. This research paper is highly relevant as it examines both positive and negative aspects of the Act.
KEY PROVISIONS OF NATIONAL SPORTS GOVERNANCE ACT, 2025
Proposed under the NSG Act, 2025 is the creation of a thorough legal framework regulating sporting bodies in India. In section 3, the law sets up the backbone for this legal framework by providing for the creation of the NSGA. This authority shall have jurisdiction over the recognition, regulation, and supervision of NSFs. The law signals a move from the current model of voluntary self-governance of sports to statutory self-governance by establishing an institution vested with the power to regulate sports organizations. Another major change proposed under sections 5 to 8 of the NSG Act is the introduction of mandatory standards of governance in sports federations. Under this section, the law provides for mandatory age and term limits of office bearers in federations. In addition, federations must hold free, fair, and timely elections of officials. Furthermore, the law requires that all sports federations embrace democracy by drafting constitutions of their organizations.7
The integrity and accountability measures are provided in Sections 9 to 12, which create Ethics Committee, Compliance Officer, and Dispute Resolution Authorities in each of the recognized federations. This is intended to help solve any problems such as corruption, conflicts of interest, and other misconducts that exist within the governance of sports. The office bearers are made to make mandatory declarations regarding their assets, connections, and possible conflicts of interest, with severe punishments in case of violation, leading to the suspension or derecognition of the federations.
Sections 13 to 15 take into account the welfare of athletes by making mandatory the participation of athletes in the governing bodies of each federation. Besides, grievance redressal procedures will be followed in matters such as selection bias, harassment, discrimination, and lack of opportunity. Special care would be taken to protect women athletes and minor athletes, necessitating the adoption of safeguarding measures by the federations. Lastly, Sections 16 to 20 deal with adherence to international standards and financial governance. In particular, these clauses make the Indian sports administration system parallel to that of international governing bodies like international federations and doping control agencies, thereby providing both independence and accountability in their operations. Besides, performance-based funding systems are introduced where government funds and sponsorship opportunities depend on compliance with good governance practices. Overall, these sections seek to professionalize the Indian sports administration framework while reconciling regulatory control with international sports administration independence.8
ANALYSIS OF LANDMARK CASES
BCCI v. Cricket Association of Bihar9 In this particular case, there were corruption and match fixing charges against the IPL, thus raising questions in regards to governance and integrity within the BCCI. This particular case witnessed multiple violations of ethics. The decision made in this case indicated that the Supreme Court decided in favor of the clean hands doctrine in sports management. In this particular case, the Lodha Committee was directed by Court to provide reforms relating to the BCCI. Some of the suggested reforms included limits in terms of tenure and age of members as well as separation of power. The importance of this case in terms of sports law relates to the fact that this particular case provided significant contribution to NSGA.
Manjeet v. Indian Olympic Association10 The core issue posed before the Delhi High Court is whether or not the selection procedure followed an objective standard in relation to the global system of standards prevailing or was entirely based on purely subjective considerations without regard to the system of standardization at all. It is worth mentioning that the Court highlighted that while conducting a selection of athletes for sports events, objective standards of fairness must be followed. One such significant aspect mentioned by the Court in the case at hand is that the Sports Ministry is one of those bodies which enjoy public trust and confidence and thus cannot remain a mere spectator when it comes to selection of sports persons. This means that public authorities should ensure that the entire process remains free of any malpractice. As a result, the Court issued a mandate for inclusion of Manjeet in the Indian contingent in 2026 Winter Olympics.
S. Nithya v. Secretary11, With respect to determining the legality of the activities of the sports authority, the Court again underscored the need for natural justice in making decisions in the exercise of powers in order to conform with procedural justice. It reiterated that the decision making done by sports authorities must always be rationale and must not be arbitrary no matter what. Acknowledging the vast discretionary power exercised by sports authorities regarding selection, it was also ruled that there should still be procedural justice in such process. The significance of this case ruling lies in the aspect that this further reinforces procedural justice in sports event management. Thus, it can be seen that there is a need to have proper grievance redressal and selection processes in place. This has now become an important part of sports management reformations worldwide.
STRENGTHS OF THE NATIONAL SPORTS GOVERNANCE ACT, 2025
First and foremost, one of the strengths of the NSG Act, 2025 is that it stresses the importance of setting up a regulatory mechanism for managing the governing bodies within sports institutions. By doing away with any form of inconsistency in the current system, this new system is likely to create more predictability and uniformity in the whole process. It will thus reduce any confusion that may arise from the lack of regulation of different governing bodies.
Furthermore, this Act can be said to promote transparency in sports governance in India. By putting into place proper administrative procedures, it ensures that all decisions made by the government are consistent and uniform. Moreover, it fosters accountability among all the members of the sports governing body.
It should further be noted that another strength of this Act is its inclusion of athletes in the governance of sports. Indeed, the involvement of athletes is one of the weaknesses of the current system. Through this Act, this weakness has been improved.
Lastly, another strength of the NSG Act, 2025 can be said to be the promotion of accountability in sports governance. This can be achieved through regulatory oversight.12
In addition, the alignment of the Act with global best practices in respect of good governance represents one of the strengths. This is because the Act can help sports governing bodies in India achieve a high degree of professionalism when participating in international sports and competitions by adhering to the principles of equality and justice internationally accepted.
The coordinated approach in institutional building represents another strength. The reason for this is that the Act aims at achieving effective cooperation among the union government, various institutions and sports governing bodies. Therefore, implementing sports programs becomes easy as there is no hassle.
One more strength associated with the Act concerns the provision of specialized dispute settlement mechanisms. The adoption of such mechanisms will prevent long legal procedures since decision-making concerning disputes will become faster. In this way, continuity in organizing sporting events will be possible.
Finally, one more benefit associated with the Act concerns the focus on governance in terms of improving the results of athletes in various kinds of sports. Effective governance leads to improvements in the performance and training of athletes.13
KEY CHALLENGES OF THE ACT
The NSGA is confronted with the challenge of maintaining a balance between state regulations and the freedom of sports organizations, which forms the basis of international sports governance. Most NSFs in India are connected to international federations that emphasize their independence from any governmental interference in their operations. As such, the National Sports Governance Act, 2025 might pose a threat to the independence of sports organizations, which would result in them being subjected to punitive measures, including bans from taking part in international events.
Secondly, the National Sports Governance Act, 2025 is likely to face opposition from existing sports federations and institutions owing to the changes that they will be subjected to. Sports federations in India have been run by influential officials who determine all aspects of their governance and operations, including electoral processes. It means that clauses such as age limitations, tenure restrictions, and mandatory elections are likely to attract a lot of controversy and legal challenges.
The other problem that needs to be considered is the ability and autonomy of the regulatory agency along with the other organizations that would be needed. In order for this Act to be implemented successfully, it requires a highly competent organization, which is autonomous enough to monitor the compliance and resolve any dispute arising from it. But there might be problems regarding bureaucratic incompetence, political intervention, and overlap with other agencies. This lack of clarity regarding institutions will weaken the regulatory system and its efficiency.
The next hurdle to overcome is that not all sport federations will have similar administrative abilities within their ranks. Some might have efficient financial arrangements and professional managerial expertise while many others do not have similar capabilities. It might become difficult for some organizations to deal with certain provisions in this Act that would require them to maintain certain norms and practices. Lastly, the importance of representing athletes and ensuring their rights in reality and not just theory cannot be understated. Although the Act ensures athletes’ representation in organizational structures, the actual empowerment, knowledge, and security of such athletes is essential for the process to take place effectively.
CONCLUSION
The NSG Act, 2025 is a definite attempt at reforming the structural and functional problems that have been prevalent in sports administration in India. The fact that the Act focuses on making the process of sports administration highly regulated and transparent clearly indicates the intent of deviating from the traditional way of functioning of sport federations. With an intention of bringing professionalism into the domain of sports administration, the Act seeks to bring governance standards that ensure transparency, independence, and athletes’ participation. To conclude, this Act certainly has a lot of potential in rectifying the prevalent problems in sports administration in India.
Nevertheless, the success of the Act depends not only on the intentions and content of the Act but also on how well it is implemented. Sport federations in India have always enjoyed high levels of autonomy and continue enjoying support from international sporting organizations. It is also an intricate balancing act between regulatory control and organization autonomy. Further, for the Act to become effective, it will depend on having sufficient institutional capacity at the proposed regulatory body, compliance norm enforcement, and non-interference from any political forces. Otherwise, the law could become purely theoretical without any practical implications on the level of day-to-day governance.
As far as recommendations are concerned, first, it would be important to include phased compliance in the implementation framework to give sports federations enough time to adapt to new governance regulations. Second, it would be advisable to implement capacity-building programs for the administrators and train them on financial management, compliance with ethical standards, and athlete welfare policy implementation. Third, it is crucial to establish an independent grievance redressal mechanism free from any administrative and political interference. This will help build confidence in the minds of athletes and other stakeholders in the process. Fourth, it is necessary to increase consultations with athletes, coaches, and foreign governing bodies. This will assist in aligning national legislation with international laws and standards.
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Footnotes
1. VivekSangwan, Sports Governance In India: An Institutional Analysis Of Policy Implementation And Outcome, IJCR (2026)
2. https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/22045/1/2025-25.pdf
3. Nanavati, S., &Rangaswamy, N. Bridging data gaps and building knowledge networks in Indian sports ecosystem. IJSA (2025).
4. Roy, S. Governance crisis in Indian sports organizations: A study of political interference. JCSS (2026).
5. Chanda, &Shrivastava, National Sports Governance Act, 2025: Reform or reinforced control? Jslp (2025).
6. Anand, M., & Joshi, A. Between promise and practice: Reading the gaps in the National Sports Governance Act, 2025. LSPR (2025).
7. India’s Sporting Reforms https://anmglobal.net/indias-sporting-reforms-transforming-indias-sports-administration/
8. Rahul Singh, Objectives and Structural Reforms in Indian Sports Governance: An Analysis of the National Sports Governance Act, jpgs (2025)
9. (2015) 3 SCC 251
10. W.P.(C) 936/2026
11. 2022 SCC Mad 318
12. Lukmaan IAS Blog (18 October 2025), available at https://blog.lukmaanias.com
13. VershaDhakad, Critical Analysis of the National Sports Governance Act, 2025, 6(12) IJLRP 1 (2025),