4 months ago
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An Abhinav Bindra-led Task Force acceptable up by the Sports Ministry has pointed retired "systemic deficits" successful India's sports administration, including "inadequate and ill-equipped" athletes for governance roles, and recommended the mounting up of an autonomous statutory assemblage to bid a specialised cadre that would besides diagnostic IAS officers.
The 170-page study of the Task Force has been submitted to Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, who connected Tuesday (December 30, 2025) said "all its recommendations volition beryllium implemented".
To code the existent "gaps" that ail the Sports Authority of India (SAI), the National Sports Federations (NSFs) and the authorities departments, the committee has recommended that a National Council for Sports Education and Capacity Building (NCSECB) beryllium acceptable up nether the Ministry "to regulate, accredit, and certify sports medication training."
The nine-member Task Force was acceptable up successful August this twelvemonth and featured, among others Adille Sumariwala and erstwhile Target Olympic Podium Scheme's CEO Cdr. Rajesh Rajagopalan.
The sheet highlighted deficiency of a nonrecreational cadre of sports administrators, and outdated grooming opportunities for them with "limited absorption connected competencies oregon continuous nonrecreational development." It besides said that astir athletes are "ill-equipped" erstwhile it comes to skills needed to modulation from their sporting careers into administrative roles.
"This study is some diagnostic and prescriptive. It identifies the structural, functional, and systemic gaps that presently constrain sports governance, but much importantly, it charts a roadmap for transformation," said Bindra successful its preface.
The Task Force was entrusted with a wide-ranging mandate and it included valuation of the existent administrative model crossed institutions specified arsenic SAI, NSFs and authorities associations.
"We engaged profoundly with the sporting ecosystem. We consulted athletes, authorities officials, SAI administrators, NSF representatives, authorities functionaries, world experts, and planetary institutions," Bindra said successful the report.
The SAI, which has besides been deemed understaffed by the parliamentary lasting committee connected sports, came successful for immoderate dense scrutiny adjacent from the Task Force on with the authorities sports departments.
Describing the 2 arsenic the "backbone" of India's sports administration, the sheet concluded that "both institutions look heavy systemic and capableness challenges that hinder professionalism, efficiency, and governance effectiveness."
"These gaps not lone constrain the implementation of nationalist policies but besides weaken coordination with federations and different stakeholders, limiting India's quality to physique a modern, athlete-centric sports ecosystem," it pointed out.
"Neither SAI nor authorities departments person a dedicated sports medication service. Instead, roles are filled by generalist civilian servants oregon contractual staff, often lacking sector-specific expertise.
"This has resulted successful ad-hoc decision-making, anemic organization continuity, and an lack of semipermanent professionalisation."
The sheet past mentioned the "poor coordination" betwixt SAI, NSFs, and State Departments, calling it "limited and fragmented."
"Overlapping roles, duplication of functions, and unclear accountability frameworks trim ratio and make systemic bottlenecks," it said.
No wide pathway for athletes successful governance
The sheet noted that portion the soon-to-be-implemented National Sports Governance Act makes jock practice successful NSF Executive Committees mandatory, determination is nary strategy successful spot to bid them for the job.
"India does not yet person a structured Dual Athlete Career Pathway integrated with the Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) model, which supports athletes successful combining elite show with education, leadership, and governance skills," it said.
"...the existent spread lies successful jock preparedness to instrumentality up these governance and enactment roles effectively. Most athletes discontinue without the applicable skills successful administration, leadership, oregon governance, leaving them underprepared for the responsibilities specified positions demand," it added.
The sheet cited planetary occurrence stories to authorities that due grooming is simply a indispensable for making competent administrators retired of athletes.
World Athletics brag Sebastian Coe (an Olympic middle-distance champion, erstwhile International Olympic Committee caput Thomas Bach (Olympic fencing gold-medallist) and existent IOC President Kirsty Coventry (Olympic swimming champion) were the names cited by the panel.
Governance Gaps successful NSFs
Over-centralisation of authorization successful NSFs was cited arsenic a large governance interest by the Task Force.
"In galore NSFs, the President exercises disproportionate power implicit operations, finance, and appointments. This contrasts sharply with planetary norms, wherever governance and execution are intelligibly separated.
"Combined with Limited transparency, this leads to debased accountability and stunted enactment development. Elected bureau bearers often instrumentality connected operational responsibilities without ceremonial grooming successful sports management," it said.
"Few federations name full-time CEOs oregon domain-specific directors. This often results successful conflicts of interest, inefficiency successful day-to-day functioning, and anemic execution of high-performance programs."
Civil Service Integration
The sheet recommended that IAS and authorities cadre officers indispensable beryllium trained successful structured sports governance modules astatine some induction and precocious stages, fixed their cardinal relation successful implementation.
"Civil work academies should integrate sports governance grooming to sensitise aboriginal bureaucrats."
