Former Minister and former Odisha PCC president Niranjan Patnaik has urged Union Sports Minister Jitendra Singh to introduce the proposed Sports Bill urgently and pleaded for handing over management of sports to professional managers to stop the rot from spreading and saving the glorious game of cricket.
Ruing the politicisation of sports, which has led to a severe dent to sporting excellence in the country, Patnaik has asked for immediate measures to delink sports from politics.
In a letter containing recommendations to purge the game of insanities, Patnaik said, “The Sports Bill is now an urgent necessity. The Government must not allow any Sports Body to become as powerful as to flout basic legal principles like ‘conflict of interest’. Cricket has a mass following in our country and enjoys overwhelming popularity, which has resulted in big revenues to the BCCI. Does BCCI need so much money reallyIJ Yes, some level of sustainability is necessary. But, more importantly, there has to be greater devolution of revenues to the State and district associations.”
“I understand politicians are opposing the Sports Bill because they will lose control over sports bodies. Cricket is no different. I suggest that the age restriction be a part of the law as well as tenure restriction. I also suggest that 50 per cent of office-bearers must be former sportspersons, who should have at least represented the related sport at the district level,” he said.