A major legislation that will change the nature of sports governance in the country is the formulation of the National Sports Governance Act, 2025, by the Indian government. The Indian sports government had issues in comprehending, and the voice of athletes was not being heard for decades.
These issues that remained over the years will finally be resolved with the National Sports Governance Act of 2025. This recent sports law in India is supposed to promote the development and popularity of sports, safeguard the welfare of the participants, and establish the moral principles under the premise of the fundamental concepts of fair play, good government, and ethics.
The state sports governing bodies are guided by the Olympic and Paralympic Charters. It will also provide individuals with issues regarding sports an equal, just and productive means of resolving them. Through this Act, there is a definite shift towards a professional, open and athlete-oriented sporting environment.
Why Reform was Necessary
The governance system in India has been condemned as ineffective, not keeping the people accountable and having to resort to the court system too frequently, despite the fact that the country is increasingly getting involved in international sports.
The issues that many sports organisations face include a lack of internal democracy, too long a time of leadership, and lack of representation of athletes. Since there existed no single legal structure, sporting organisations used various approaches in the running of their businesses. The National Sports Governance Act, 2025 was enacted to resolve such issues and transform the Indian sports to be more professional, transparent, and athlete-centric.
Key Objectives- Sports Law in India
The National Sports Governance Act of 2025 includes the number of core goals to reform the sports sector in the country:
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Promote Development and Welfare: The main purpose of the Act is to enable the overall growth and promotion of sports along with the safeguarding of the welfare of all the athletes.
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Secure Transparency and Accountability: It desires to ensure that national sports regulatory bodies, which perform valuable work to the populace, are integrity, equity and honest.
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Single Framework should be put in place: The law is intended to provide one system of governing sports so that all national sports organisations have one set of rules.
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Effective Resolution of Disputes: The Act indicates that it must have easy-to-use and effective methods of settling complaints and disagreements. This saw the establishment of the National Sports Tribunal.
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Meet Global Standards: It is one of the primary objectives to ensure that the sports government of India adheres to the regulations and provisions of the Olympic and Paralympics Charters.
National Sports Bodies (Section 3)
According to the National Sports Governance Act of 2025, the desirable structure is that of a framework that should be used to identify and operate the national sports governing organisations. According to the Act, the following are to be established with regards to every named sport:
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The National Olympic Committee.
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The National Paralympics Committee.
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A National Sports Federation.
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A Local Sports Federation.
One of the requirements is the formation of a single National Olympic Committee and its counterpart, National Paralympics Committee. The law also states that every national sports organisation should have international status and should also be a member of the respective international sports federation.
The National Sports Board has been given the mandate of sports law in India acknowledging, terminating or reinstalling the accreditation of these sports organisations. This name is a vital part of the Act that makes an organisation eligible to receive grants and financial assistance from the Central Government.
This provision not only makes jurisdictional duties clear, but also avoids the formation of competing bodies and also curbs the possible conflicts of interest, thereby strengthening the entire system of governance of Indian sports.
Read More: Why Sports Law is Emerging as a Popular Career Path in India?
Governance and Compliance Requirements
National Sports Governance Act, 2025 sports provides strict governance and compliance criteria of all permitted National Sports Organisation to ensure fairness in their activities and transparency. The main provisions include the following aspects:
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Executive Committee (Section 4): The Executive Committee is allowed to consist of fifteen members.
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Mandatory Representation (Section 5): Two distinguished athletes of exceptional merit and two representatives of the Athletes Committee are required to be members of the Executive Committee. Moreover, it will also have at least four women members.
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Leadership Roles: The legislation defines the particular responsibilities and obligations of the President, Secretary General and Treasurer.
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Eligibility and Term Limits (Sections 7, 8 and 9): To be eligible to join the Executive Committee, one must be an Indian citizen, be 25 years of age and not more than 70 (sometimes exceptions are made to allow people to be 75 years old). One can serve as a President, Secretary General or Treasurer in consecutive terms of up to three consecutive terms after which he or she is required to take a one-term hiatus. The maximum service of the Executive Committee is four years.
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Ad Hoc Administrative Bodies (Section 11): In case of recognition loss or government failure, the Board can employ a permanent temporary committee of reputable administrators to restore everything into order.
These sports law in India are significant since they prevent the concentration of power, ensure that women and athletes are never left behind, and ensure that leadership is changed frequently. The term limits and cooling-off have a positive impact on democracy within the organisation and the presence of athletes on the board facilitates the need to ensure that the decision on the policy remains in the best interest of athletes.
Key Policies and Committees- Sports Law in India
The Act establishes new organizations and policies to ensure that the athletes are treated fairly, all people act in an ethical manner, and good supervision is done. These measures are supposed to promote honesty and fairness in the sporting world:
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Code of Ethics: Every National Sports Body should develop some Code of Ethics that will be followed by members, staff, coaches, and players to establish some fundamental principles of behaviour. The code also needs to provide means of shielding weak people against abuse.
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Safe Sports Policy: The National Sports Board must develop a complete Safe Sports Policy that will ensure the safety of women and young athletes.
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Grievance Redressal (Section 13): Every National Sports Body will establish a mechanism through which grievances can be made by the players and coaches among others and dealt with in an equitable and expeditious manner.
The National Tribunal and Sports Board
The Act has established two key entities to govern sports in the country:
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The National Sports Board: This is an organisation established as a masters in business law and can give, take away or cease to recognise sports organisations. Other matters that can be investigated by the Board include the cases that threaten the welfare of athletes or the misappropriation of government funds. It also collaborates with the global sport organisations to ensure that the global requirements are addressed.
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The National Sports Tribunal: It is an independent body that has a chair plus two other people who aim to settle the sporting disputes as quickly as possible. It is supervised by the Higher Court Chief Justices or Judges of the Supreme Court.
The Tribunal is not able to address the global events or problems that are the sole mandate of other international organizations. It can appeal to the Supreme Court on the basis of the international charters that state otherwise. The Tribunal resolves disagreements and makes sports governance independent and honest. Shortens judicial cases.
Role of Legal Education in Sports Governance
The quality of legal education in emerging fields like sports law also has a bearing on the successful execution of reforms under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025. Through a combination of cutting-edge legal principles and theoretical knowledge, institutes educate a new generation of legal practitioners to address sports regulation, dispute resolution, and governance issues, thereby facilitating India’s convergence with global sports law norms.
Geeta Institute of Law provides an opportunity to students to specialize in sports law through its BA LLB and LLB course and covers sports governance, ethics, arbitration and athletes rights amongst others as a part of the moot papers, seminars, research projects and practical training.
Conclusion
The National Sports Governance Act, 2025 is also a massive transformation in the sponsorship of sports in India. It establishes an open, accountable and athlete oriented system of governance. The Act enhances integrity of institutions and promotes ethical conduct within sports organisations by addressing some of the long-term issues such as political interference, non-representation, and bad governance.
The sports law in India is equal to the international standards as it is devoted to the term limits, fair representation, dispute resolution, and the welfare of athletes. The National Sports Board and Tribunal ensure that complaints are addressed promptly and efficiently. All in all, this law lays a solid ground regarding the development of Indian sports in the long term, providing the athletes with increased authority and rendering the country more reputable in the sporting scene.
