The Importance of Governance in Sports

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Author(s): Abhishek Srivastava

Abstract

A game is made up of number of key participants some of it may be direct participants and many other who are indirect contributors like players, crowds, trainers, coaches, sponsors, organizers, the ground staff and last but not the least the administrators. The administration forms an important part of any sporting body. This research which is being done in the area of Sports Law, a new field of law which has gradually started to evolve in recent times tries to focus on the aspect of Sports Governance in India and the possibility of introducing a complete Sports Law for their regulation.

An Introduction: A game is made up of number of key participants some of it may be direct participants and many other who are indirect contributors like players, crowds, trainers, coaches, sponsors, organizers, the ground staff and last but not the least the administrators. The administration forms an important part of any sporting body. This research which is being done in the area of Sports Law, a new field of law which has gradually started to evolve in recent times tries to focus on the aspect of Sports Governance in India and the possibility of introducing a complete Sports Law for their regulation.

The Chapter One here aims to outline what is exactly meant by the term Governance and what are different types of governance system which exists; it then aims to highlight the importance of governance in Sports.

What is Governance?

Governance and Government are the words which are quite closely related to each other however the word governance is much wider than the government as it has been clearly emphasized by the British Council that “Governance involves interaction between the formal institutions and those in civil society. Governance refers to a process whereby elements in society wield power, authority and influence and enact policies and decisions concerning public life and social upliftment”[1].

However if one have to define governance in simple words the definition given by United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, seems to be the perfect one as it defines “the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented (or not implemented) [2].

Forms of Governance

The word Governance may be used in context of different structure of governance, it may be

1. Corporate Governance
2. International Governance
3. National Governance
4. Local Governance

Good Governance: In recent times the word Good Governance has been used continuously in context to evaluate how a sound governing system should be. Good Governance refers is an approach where there is a commitment in order to create a system which promotes equality, transparency, accountability, human rights and civil liberties.

United Nations have laid out some principles of Good Governance, they are as follows

1. Participation
2. Rule of Law
3. Non-Discrimination and
4. Accountability
5. Conesus Oriented
6. Responsiveness
7. Equity and Inclusiveness:
8. Effectiveness and Efficiency

Defining Sports

There are three aspects which are involved here one is governance other is sports and then the third is the importance of the governance in sports. Let us first understand what is meant by sports. While everyone knows what sports are but there are only few who can define what exactly sports is. The Word Sports which have been derived from French word “de sport” refers leisure. While Merriam Webster Dictionary defines that sport is a physical activity engaged for pleasure [3]. On the other hand International Sport federation defines that any activity which involves physical or athletic activity with competition will be termed as sports [4].

Most of these definition generally tend to highlight sport as physical activity but then there are sports like Chess which involves mental ability more than physical one .This is one of the major reason why sports does not have a universally accepted definition. The definition given by National Sports and Recreation Act, 1998 South Africa can be termed as the most suitable one [5]. It says that Sports means a significant level of physical or mental activity for establishing a winner in structured environment. Therefore going through various definitions we can say that sport is something which involves

1. Physical activity with an element of skill
2. Risk involved in the game
3. Building an environment of cordial relationship
4. Promoting Spirit among participant
5. Planning and Strategy
6. Physical effort and Mental grill ness [6]

Indeed sports involve the physical activity but not all the physical activities come under the ambit of sports like the NSRA definition have said that not only physical but mental act as well. Sport also involves planning and strategy making which is an essential part of the game. However one aspect which separates sports from mere active recreation or a physical activity is the structure of organisation that surrounds and impacts an activity [7].

In Indian Context, Sports have not been defined; however it has been classified in the state list of seventh schedule [8]. It has been mentioned in Income tax act and the Army Act too but lacks a clear definition. The major reason might be that historically sports in India have always been considered as leisure activity and though the attitude of the world changed with the advent of modern Olympics, India could not give sports its due and continued to give it step motherly treatment [9]. In spite of the fact that many of the sports like wrestling, archery can be traced back to Vedic era,Infact swimming,riding,sword fight,gambling,rope pulling,playing with the balls ,all these varieties of sports can be found from the time of Mahabharata , where students use to learn these traits from the ashram of their gurus. With time though the sports culture in the country deteriorated rapidly [10].

Sports in India: In Free India, Sports was never considered a prime choice for career by Parents for their Children in fact it was always considered a way to secure a Government Job but things have started to change in past decade or two. The outlook of the Indian Society towards Sports has changed during this period probably because the number of the opportunities has increased in last 20 years. The arrival of club culture in Indian sports, the career opportunities in sports have become lucrative. This is the reason why the modern generation is serious about making career in sports, even the government has dedicated huge amount of pool towards sports. Slowly but steadily India have started to make mark in the sporting events like Olympic, Commonwealth games, SAF and so on ,there are many bright talents which have been unearthed in recent years [11].

Sports in Indian Constitution: In Indian Constitution Sports have been specified in the State List. States have been given power in order to make polices related to sports. The 33rd Item in the State list is Sports. In the recent years efforts have been made to shift the sports to concurrent list so that the center can also get power in order to make policies which might be more beneficial for overall structure of sports in the country. There is no two thoughts that while the thinking of both the public and the state about the sports have changed over past few decades but still there is absence of placing sports in most top priority list. There have been multiple examples what the Indian legislature views on the sports. In 1988, the then Rajiv Gandhi government presented a bill in the parliament with a view to shift Sports to Concurrent but in absence of any consensus on the bill, the bill was later on withdrawn by the government and the sports continued in State list only. In 2011, the government brought National Sports Development Bill 2011 the main aim was facilitating better management of sports in the country and bring out reforms in the governance of the sports in order to make it more responsive, responsible and result oriented [12].

However, the Government felt the bill was not ready and it decided to put it up on the public domain in order to get suggestions from the common public and state federations. Result this bill lapsed and was redrafted as National Sports Development Bill 2013. The main aim was broadened and it covered whole Sports administration and many other important things like determining upper age limit of office bearers and bringing these sports federations under Right to Information Act 2005 [13]. However just like previous bill, this bill also failed to get the nod of our parliament. The most positive step which was taken in recent times have been passing of the National Sports University Bill 2018, probably because the ruling Bharitya Janta Party has enough majority that it could pass the bill without any major obstacle from the opposition [14]. The National Sports University Act 2018 led to the establishment of India’s first Sports University in Manipur [15].

Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports: It is Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports which is responsible for regulation of Sports bodies which are funded from the government [16]. Some of the major functions are:

1. Promotion and Development of Sports in Country: The First major objective of MYAS is to overall development of Sports in India, promote sports among children especially at the school To promote social inclusiveness, employment opportunities, peace and development and above all a sense of pride in representing the country.
2. Encouraging Young athletes at the Grass root level [17]: The National Youth Policy document of 2014 clearly stresses the importance of promoting young athletes especially at the grass root level. The future of any game in any part of the world lies on the state of its sports at the grass root In order to encourage the young athletes right from early part of their career, the government have launched multiple schemes, some of the schemes/awards offered by the ministry are:
   1. Scheme of Sports Fund for Pension to Meritorious Sportspersons [18]
   2. National Centre for Sports Sciences and Research (NCSSR) [19]
   3. National Centre for Sports Coaching (NCSC) [20]
   4. Dronacharya Awards 2018 [21]
   5. Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puraskar Awards 2018 [22]
   1. Effective Governance: One of the major commitments which the sports ministry has given is introducing effective governance in all the sports bodies. It has been on top priority when Rajyawardhan Rathore became the sports minister. He emphasized on cleaning up the sports and pressed the start has to be done from the administration In fact the government has introduced the National Code for Good Governance in Sports (Draft) 2017 in order to work on achieving the target of good governance in sports bodies in India [24].

   This particular draft aims to find a balance between the autonomy of the bodies and also making them responsible for the functions they are performing, being the public body, their responsibility increases manifolds to the people of the country. The Code further aims to achieve the objective of the Olympic Charter that is good governance in the sports bodies all across the world. The Code further tries to bring some clarity on the type of bodies that are approved and are covered , what would be the qualifications of the office bearers of these bodies ,which can be considered as the most important point as the misuse of the post of sports bodies have been in talking point for quite some time.

   1. TransparencyandAccountability in Sporting Federations: In the recent past Government has taken various steps to further improve the management of NSFs and sports in the country such as notification of the Anti-Doping Code; introduction of annual recognition of NSFs to ensure transparency and accountability of NSFs; enforcement of age and tenure limit in respect of office bearers of NSFs, including the Indian Olympic Association; bringing NSFs under the purview of Right to Information Act; measures to ensure free, fair and transparent elections by the NSFs [25,26].
   1. National Sports Development Fund: The National Sports Development Fund (NSDF) [27] was established in November, 1998 under Charitable Endowments Act, 1890 with the aim of promotion of sports and game in the The main objects of the fund are as under :
   2. To administer and apply the moneys of the Fund for promotion of sports in general and special sports disciplines and individual Sportspersons in particular for achieving excellence at the National and International level.
   3. To impart special training and coaching in relevant sports disciplines to Sportspersons, Coaches and sports
   4. To construct and maintain infrastructure for promotion of sports and games.
   5. To supply sports equipment’s to organizations and individuals for promotion of sports and games.
   6. To identify problems and take up research and development studies for providing support to excellence in sports.
   7. To promote International cooperation, in particular, exchanges which may promote the development of sports; and
   8. To provide low interest or interest free loans for projects and actives related to any of the aforesaid objects
   9. In Precious three-decade multiple policies have been introduced by the Government relating to sports
   10. National Sports Policy 1984: By early 1980s it was being felt that India needed to change its attitude towards sports, it was lying at the bottom of the barrel and things were looking bleaker in long term prospective. Since Independence in 36 years India could only win 09 medals in 10 Olympics. The 1976 Montreal Olympics and recently concluded Los Angeles Olympics in August 1984 was nothing less than disaster for the country as it failed to bag a single medal. Indian Hockey has reached to its lowest level, Tennis, Cricket, Basketball, Badminton, athletics most of the games were in The major reason was the lack of sporting culture in the country. It was felt that a major overhauling needed to be done especially at the grass root level in order to change the image of the country in sports and as a result of it the historic “ National Sports Policy 1984“ was presented in both the houses of the parliament and was passed on 21-08-1984 [28].

   Current Status: Modified and Formulated in National SportsPolicy 2001

   1. NationalSportsPolicy2001: The National sports policy 1984 was reformed and turned into National sports policy 2001 with major aim to identify the talents at the grass root This was to be the joint responsibility of the central government, state government and gram panchayats. Educational institution, clubs also needed to play an important role. In order to broad-base sports following steps were taken under National Sports Policy, 2001:
   2. Broad-basing Sports and achievement of
   3. Improvement and development of infrastructure and facilities in sports
   4. Supporting National Sports Federations and other appropriate bodies;
   5. Improving the scientific and coaching support to sports;
   6. Promoting sports ensuing greater participation of women, Scheduled Tribes and rural youth;
   7. Involvement of the Corporate Sector in sports promotion; and
   8. Increasing sports culture among common masses [29].

   Current Status: The National Sports Policy 2001 is currently active

   1. NationalSportsDevelopmentCode2011: The National Sports Development Bill 2011 was introduced in early part of this While the Bill tried to cover many things but it the main point in focus was the better governance of sports bodies. The Bill tried to cover other issues like age fraud, conducting fair elections and accountability. Government thought that it would be better to open this for public suggestion and feedbacks of the state federations.

   Status: The Bill lapsed and was later on re introduced as National Sports Development Bill 2013, in 2013

   1. National Sports Development Bill 2013: Some of the salient Features of the National Sports Development Bill 2013 were:
   2. Goodgovernance ofthe federation: The first major issue which bill aimed to deal was governance of the sporting It ensured that the sporting federations must have good governance so that it could be possible to maintain transparency and accountability easily towards public [30]. The start of this mission was done from Indian Olympic Association (IOA). The Indian Olympic Committee (IOC) and IOA were told that policies must be consistent with Olympic charter, to which they agreed however later on the changes made by IOC only thwarted the process of the reforms.
   3. DivisionofResponsibilities: Chapter 2 of the bill gives power to central government to take necessary decisions to promote and develop sports in the country. Chapter 3 deals with dispute resolution between the stakeholders in the country [31]. At times we have seen the disputes arising between the people involved in sports brings lots of negativity on team .The bill also targeted to make sporting federations accountable for the promotions and developments of the sports they were concerned with [32].It was a much awaited step needed in country’s sports as most of the sport federations are not answerable for their activities to the public.
   4. Recognizing Sporting Federations: One of the major troubles in sports in India is that there are various sports where there is more than one sporting federations and these federations keep on fighting with each other for control of authority . The tussle for control and power becomes so ugly sometimes that the disputes are resolved only in the courts [34]. Hence the bill aimed that there should be one federation for one sport and took step to recognize one body per sports, by doing so it ensured that there is one body in one game having rights to represent the country.

   The bill set the guidelines that those sporting federation who wish to register themselves must follow the rules laid down by it and other essential norms like financial accountability and recognition by IOA. This was a welcome point needed in the bill.

   1. PreventingAgeFraud: The bill also aimed to stop the fraud of age, quite frequent in sports in our country [35]. Numerous players have been caught while hiding their real age and various others while doing age fraud [36]. Various age group teams in different sports have been found to be having players who are much higher than their In 2011 Maharashtra’s Ankit Bhavane who was to lead under-19 team in a tournament in Australia was found to have furnished wrong date of birth. His date of birth in BCCI’s record and in his passport were different, as a result of it he was removed from the team and Unmukt Chand was made the team’s captain, it was quite an embarrassing moment for the BCCI [37]. Former captain Dilip Vengasarkar had also told about the age fraud and how it have been existing from his days. It is not only evident in the case of cricket but most of the games in the country have been affected by the age controversies. Recently Sports Integrity Unit of CBI has stated that age fraud is rampant in Indian sports. Section 16 of the bill aim to curb this problem.
   2. Anti-dopingmeasures: One of the serious problems in modern day sports. The Bill aim to provide information about the anti- doping on the website of the central government and the measure and the steps taken.
   3. Eligibility of those who can represent India: The bill also lays down eligibility criteria of the athletes who can represent India. It emphasizesthat those Indian residents who have Indian passports only can It includes even non-residents who hold Indian passport. In short, a person of Indian origin will not be treated as Indian citizen unless they have an Indian Passport [38].
   4. Tenure and Restriction of Office bearers: The Act also aimed in order to lay down the age and tenure restriction of office The maximum age limit of the administrators as per the bill was to be 70 years. It was established through bill that office bearers will have only two consecutive terms and they cannot contest for president ship of the federation if they have completed 12 years. This was considered to be a very good point as it has been seen that election in sporting federation have been marred of controversies be it the BCCI elections, IHF Elections or elections of any association.

   The Bill, considered to be a remarkable step in overhauling the structure of sports in the country suffered from many lapses. One of the defects was that it didn’t provided any strict provision for dealing with sexual harassment, quite frequent in Sports. Sports being different from other activities are peculiar in nature; there are several activities which can be termed as sexual harassment.

   Current Status: The Bill lapsed and never came into existence

   1. National Sports Ethics Commission Bill 2016: This bill was introduced in 2016 in order to clean up the corruption in the Indian Sports and some of the major changes which were suggested however the bill could not pass and hence once again a bill lapsed raising question on the willingness of Indian politicians to enforce a proper law in Sports.
   2. Current Status: The Bill could not pass and continues to be in pending list
   3. National Sports University Act 2018: One of the landmark decision taken by the government was introduction of National Sports University Act 2018 for which it should be applauded. The act which led to the establishment of India’s first Central University in the state of Manipur was deemed to be a significant step in promotion of sports in India [39]. While India had many state universities but its establishment gave India its first central university. The University have four schools
   4. School of Sports Science and Sports Medicine
   5. School of Sports Management and Technology
   6. School of Sports Education
   7. School of Interdisciplinary Studies [41]

   The university aims to produce world class athletes, coaches, sports managers, sports architect, sports journalists and also targets to produce environment of sports in the country so that more and more youngsters are encouraged to take up sports as career.

   The main purpose of the above discussion was to highlight how importance is the governance for modern day institutions. All the policies, bills and acts which have been brought by different government at different point of times in past 35 years are mainly focused on promoting sports and better governance of sports federations. It is because if the governance will be sound there are more chances that the grass roots of those particular sports will be stronger which will ultimately mean that the overall health of that sport will be good one.

   Even different international bodies have acknowledged the importance of effective governance for the success of an institution, United Nations, FIFA and ICC in their different documents have stressed on providing better governance in an institution. In fact, as discussed above UN has laid out a document which lays out principles which signifies good governance. This is the reason why chapter 1 of this research is mainly dedicated towards highlighting the importance of governance in general, now we will move to study the importance of governance in sports mainly highlighting sports federations

   Importance of Administration/ Governance in Sports

   Good governance in Sports bodies is very important as it helps in laying down strong policies especially at the ground level of sports which helps in overall development of sport apart from ensuring strong future. It also ensures that all the stake holders are able to get proper benefit of the polices.

   A high standard of governance is one of the most important factors in preparing an organization to be fit for the future. Because of this, it’s also a factor in creating a successful and sustainable sport sector. The major aim for good governance in sports includes all the above points which governance in every administration is required however in sports the ways to achieve these objectives are different [42].

   The Sports bodies in a country follow the rules and regulations of International bodies. For this reason, the sport governing bodies should develop their sports in their territorial jurisdiction and to ensure implementation of the rules and regulations of the IF [43]. Effective governance of sports is particularly complex because of the wide range of participants involved. These participants include players and clubs, local, national and international organizations, spectators, the media, commercial (sponsors) and non-commercial interests, and educational and training bodies. These groups typically have different priorities and inter-relationships within and outside the sport. Individual sports are typically characterized by multiple interests and roles, and a complex combination of legal, regulated and self-regulatory frameworks, contractual relationships, practices, implicit relationships, and tacit understandings. The role and legitimacy of governing organizations depends on continuing and widespread confidence in their institutional structures, governance arrangements, rules and dispute mechanisms. Without this confidence, the value of the sports, events and championships for which they are responsible may be adversely affected.

   What should the Governance Model of Sports Bodies follow for Good Governance? [45]

   1. Effective policies and its proper implementation
   2. Transparency in its working
   3. Responsibility for the smooth function
   4. Harmonious working culture in Organization
   5. Accountability of the office bearers
   6. Effective participation of all the stakeholders
   7. How an organization develops strategic goals and direction
   8. How the board of the organization monitors the performance of the organization to ensure it achieves these strategic goals, and
   9. Ensuring that the board acts in the best interests of the members. To guarantee good governance in sports, the roles and
   10. Responsibilities of all participants should be clearly defined
   11. Effective implementation of rules and regulations of International Governing bodies
   12. Laying out short term and long-term plans for development of Sports in Country
   13. Following the Code of Conduct for Sports as laid by the Sports Law of particular Country

   What are Advantages of aforementioned 13 points for a Sports Body?

   1. It ensures that all the stakeholders are able to get proper benefit if the policy have been effective implanted by the
   2. An effective governance model will ensure that the particular sport is able to achieve sustainable development.
   3. The Accountability and transparency in the sports bodies will strengthen the confidence of the common public on the working of these organizations.
   4. The better governance of sports bodies will mean that every wing of the organization has its role clarified.

   Governance in Sports [46]

   1. The Role of the Governing Body: The primary responsibilities of the governing bodies in Sports is to formulate rules of sports, regulate it, development and promotion of sports, widen its popularity and to represent the sports at the local or state or national or at international level depending upon what type of body it is.Governing bodies of a sport acts as a guardian of that particular sport and they govern their sports as They have the responsibility to ensure democracy, independence, fairness; solidarity and transparency are maintained in the organization. The power of being trustees of the game are vested in the members and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system. This is the reason it becomes quite essential that governing bodies must clearly state the role and functions they perform to support their members. The governing body also has the responsibility that the game continues to grow and keep on a check that it is in good health.

   The Olympic Charter is considered to be the benchmark of the governance of International Federations, let us examine some of the important point laid out by this crucial document:

   1. To ensure the development of the sports all around the world should be the top priority of a go governing body of that particular sport, as its existence is connected only with that
   2. To establish and enforce, in accordance with the Olympic spirit, the rules concerning the practice of their respective sports and to ensure their application.
   3. To achieve whatever objectives which have been laid down in the Olympic Charter by imparting Olympic Awareness and Olympic Education.
   4. To express their opinions on the candidatures for organizing the Olympic Games, in particular as far as the technical aspects of venues for their respective sports are concerned;
   5. To promote health care measures in order for better health of athletes
   6. In order to establish rules and regulations and promotion of technical assistance in order for conduction of high-quality
   7. Principlesof Sports Governance: A group from Belgium who was working on the principles of Sports Governance presented some of the points which are important for a sport entity for ensuring good governance, these principles are as follows:
      1. Defining the role of the governing body
      2. Simple Structure, Clear responsibility and Accountability
      3. Membership rules and Size of the Body
      4. Democracy, Elections and Procedure of Appointment of the bearers must be open and clear.
      5. Effective Procedure of Appeals and Decisions
      6. Taking Care of Conflict of Interest
      7. Strengthening Solidarity
      8. Recognition of other Interest [47]

      All the above clearly states that the governing bodies in sports must clearly clarify the roles, limitations and responsibility of the body.

      1. MembershipandSizeofGoverningBody: It is very important for a sports body that clear rules must be laid down for being eligible for getting the membership of the entity in addition to it is pertinent that the membership should be regulated . It is important that name and details along with qualifications of all the officers involved must be clearly laid down so that it becomes easier in case of their Any ambiguity may tarnish the image of the particular organization and may also result in lengthy and costly legal battle.
      2. DemocraticNature,TimelyandFreeElectionandImpartial Appointments: One of the importance features of a sports entity is that it must be democratic in nature; there should not be a single individual who must be in total control of the affairs. It is also important that elections of such bodies happen on time and in free manner. This has been a point of concern in case of Indian Sport federations, where it has been seen that one person has been in control of affairs for a very long period of time .Elections which are conducted just for the sake to show that there is fair procedure and majority of them are selected due to strong All this will be discussed in detail in upcoming chapters. As I have been writing these lines the BCCI elections are in news and in spite of making all its efforts in last 4 years, the purpose of the Supreme Court appointed CoA seemed to be lost as the people who were removed from the Board due to rampant existence of nepotism, secrecy, oligarchy, corruption, misuse of the power seem to be returning back though not directly but through their relatives. Going through report in leading English newspaper Indian Express, the oligarchy seems to continue, as these powerful people refuse to give up the power only difference is that they have started controlling by someone else. A look at how this latest news seem to take governance of Indian cricket backwards by 4 years and might affect the game in long run [48].
      3. TamilNaduCricketAssociation: Before the overhaul of India’s most powerful sports body by BCCI , It was N Srinivasan who led the BCCI and was considered as one of the most powerful in the His power handling, arrogance had led BCCI as most powerful but an arrogant board [49]. It led to the decline of the reputation of BCCI both at the International level and National level. Misuse of power, corruption, lack of democratic structure, match fixing, conflict of interest and a failed governing system led the Supreme Court intervene in the matter [50] . However, after years of deliberation and efforts just when it looked things will fall in right place, these people are returning. Rupa Gurunath have been elected unopposed as the first female head of Tamil Nadu Cricket Association, she is the daughter of N Srinivasan and wife of Gurunath Meiyappan who was banned for spot fixing in 2013 edition of Indian Premier League [51]. She is full time director of Indian Cements a company owned by N Srinivasan.
      4. Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association: The President of HPCA is Arun Dhumal who is brother of none other than former BCCI president and current Minister of State Finance Anurag Thakur , although HPCA got new president but Thakur ensured that it remained in his family [52].
      5. Rajasthan Cricket Association: No matter how hard it is tried in order to ensure that politics and cricket remain separated but it seems it is impossible. RCA is a glaring example where RCA president Vaibhav Gehlot is the son of Chief Minister of Rajasthan Ashok Gehlot , the powerful Congress leader and the vice president is Amin Pathan a BJP leader [53].
      6. Manipur CricketAssociation: The Supreme Court appointed CoA has been quite strict in adhering to the guidelines of the lodha committee but it was quite surprising to see that they have approved the Constitution of MCA.MCA has nominated Rajkumar as the state association’s representative at the BCCI AGM. Rajkumar is member of legislative assembly and as per Lodha Committee recommendation no individual holding public office is eligible to hold any post in any of the federations [54].

      Note: The CoA has disqualified the MCA as well on the above grounds that the office bearer is holding a public office [55,56].

      1. Nagaland Cricket Association: Neiphiu Rio was the chief of Nagaland Cricket Association, after his departure the post has gone to Kechangulie Rio who is none other than but his son, this was done so as to save the membership of the association but it would not be wrong to say that it is still the CM who will be calling the shots [57].
      2. Vidharbha Cricket Association: While VCA was one of the few associations who never hesitated in adopting the recommendations which were given by Lodha Committee and commendably they did them without any modifications unlike the other However the practise of having office bearers linked closely to powerful people have not been discontinued. Adwait Manohar who is the son of ICC chairman and former BCCI president Shashank Manohar, is currently the vice-president’s post. It will be his second term as an office-bearer [58].
      • Chhattisgarh Cricket Association : CCA was headed by Baldeo Singh Bhatia , a liquor baron who have been involved in multiple areas. He was involved in education, cricket ,liquor as well . He was also holding post in Chhattisgarh Olympic Association, which he has to later on resign due to conflict of interest , At current he has resigned from the post but guess what who is new president his son Prabhtej Singh Bhatia [59].
      • Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association: UPCA has gone one step ahead than other It has ensured that Oligarchy continues in cricket atleast in the state. Industrialist Guar Hari Singhania headed UPCA for 20 years till his death and after his death hi son Yadhupati Singhania have taken over the mantle of the association from 2015 onwards. The Singhania are in top position of the UPCA for almost 25 years and there is no chance in near future that this would go to any one else [60].
      • Gujrat Cricket Association : GCA case is interesting one albeit different .Amit Shah one of the most powerful personality and currently home minister in central government was the president of GCA , as he was holding a public office in union government and hence couldn’t not have continued as the president in GCA , he resigned from the post of GCA president . His son Jay Shah was the joint secretary but he also didn’t saw reappointment , it looked that at last Lodha reforms was working but it was short term misconception as Jay Shah became the GCA representative at BCCI’s AGM , which is considered to be very crucial meeting. Further he is expected to hold important office in new body [61].
      • SaurashtraCricketAssociation:Niranjan Shah is considered to be a very influential personality in Indian cricket and he has been the person who has strong influence on It would not be wrong to put that Shah has ruled the SCA for almost forty years. His son has now been elected unopposed as the new president of SCA , what more Shah’s nephew Himanshu was elected as the secretary of the association [62].
      • Odisha Cricket Association: The office bearers have found out different ways in order not to give up the post they held for it it doesn’t matter whether the post is directly held by them or they control it indirectly by their relatives. Ashirbad Behera the former secretary of OCA was alleged to be involved in state’s multi -crore chit fund scam and is behind bars after CBI arrested him .However, Behera found out a new way to continue this time through his son Sanjay Behera who was elected as the new secretary of the state association. Ashirbad Nehra voted in the OCA election from the jail [63].
      • Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB): Jagmohan Dalmiya is considered to be the genius who was the architect in India becoming financial super power,he helped India achieve the status it deserved. He held various post in BCCI, ICC but he was the man for Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB), he headed the association for many decades. After his death in 2015, His son Avishek Dalmiya was elected as the CAB Secretary on 28th September 2019 [64].
      • Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA): Let us look at one of the oldest cricket body of the country Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) Vijay Patil who is the son of DY Patil, senior politician was elected as Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) ‘s Local Congress leader Shah Alam was elected joint secretary. Two office bearers Ajinkya Naik,Gaurav Payyade are related to former office bearers [65].
      • x Punjab Cricket Association (PCA): Rakesh Rathour who was elected as the Vice President is the brother of former Indian opener Vikram Rathore, he is also cousin of former BCCI President and current minister Anurag Thakur [66].

      These are not the only examples which establish that the governance of the most powerful sports body of the country is not heading in the direction where it was intended by the Supreme Court. As the news came 8 associations have failed to comply with the reforms and have been suspended by CoA. Justice Lodha ,who was one of the members in the panel which laid out several key points in the report which aimed to restructure cricket governance in India was not totally satisfied with the elections which concluded in September and October in different associations all across India [67].

      While Justice Lodha have expressed his happiness that at last the Elections are being conducted but he also showed his concern the way state association has handled these elections thereby defeating the whole purpose of the revamp. He furthered added on that the original report submitted by the committee has been tinkered and over the time the main purpose have all been diluted. He further added that “The BCCI election is going to take place; it’s a moment of happiness. But things are otherwise in bad shape, the way the Associations have actually chosen their President and office bearers” [68].

      The main purpose of the discussion of BCCI elections was to stress on the fact how important are democratic, timely and free elections without which the concept of good governance cannot be implemented.

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