Sports Law, unlike natural law, is a positive law and is a very new concept in our country. Sports Law not only covers the on-field activities but also other off-field physical education and related areas. Sports have been stated in the State List of the Seventh Scheduled of the Constitution of India and the laws dealing with the same are regulated and controlled by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

No matter how good any rule, regulation, or legislation is there are always some grey areas that are slightly less focused but are essential for the growth and development of the industry. Some of the major grey areas that need proper attention are Gender Discrimination, Doping, Betting and Gambling, and the protection of Intellectual Property Rights involved in the sports industry.

Gender Discrimination

The first vital issue that needs to be addressed is that of Gender Discrimination in Indian Sports. Indian women sports persons are always viewed as the inferior and weaker section, but on contrary, they have shown exemplary results and have brought laurels to the country. Female athletes have on various occasions outperformed their male counterparts, yet are still unknown to many. Article 14 of the Constitution of India talks about equality before law and Article 15 prohibits discrimination based on gender. Despite these constitutional provisions, gender equality is a distant dream, because these aims fail to realize the ground level reality which involves the mentality of the Indian common mass that has a greater demand for men\’s sports rather than women\’s sports. There have been various national and international policies that aim to narrow down this gender gap. One of the major national policies is the National Policy for the Empowerment of Women of 2001which aims to bring around the advancement, development, and empowerment of women. As for the International Policy, India is a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women which contains a provision to deal with gender discrimination against women. Coaches and other people in power are using power over athletes for sexual purposes which are considered as clear sexual harassment.[1] Sexual Harassment is also a vital issue under gender discrimination which is dealt with by the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention. Prohibition and Redressal ) Act, 2013, which lays down the proper statutory definition of workplace, training, sports institute, and other related activities in the context of sports. Unfortunately, many sports federations have failed to implement the provisions of this act for the development of women sportspersons.

The next grey area to be focused on is the issue of Doping in Sports. India is one of the founding members of the World Anti Doping Agency and has adopted the World Anti Doping Agency Code on 5th March 2003. India has also signed the Copenhagen Declaration on Anti-Doping, in accordance with which the National Anti Doping Agency was established to implement the World Anti Doping Agency Code in India. India also framed the Anti-Doping Rules of the National Anti-Doping Agency in 2008. Despite all these laws and strict formal restrictions, the Indian Sports industry is far from being safe from doping. The National Anti Doping Agency reported 157 violations among Indian Athletes in 2019. The report further states that the anti-doping disciplinary panel has handed penalties to 147 athletes for consuming prohibited substances for enhancing their performance. The main cause behind this pitiable situation is the orthodox approach of the National Anti Doping Agency. They have always acted as a prosecuting body rather than one spreading awareness and knowledge concerning doping and the related aspects. It has failed to study the practical and legal implications of the World Anti Doping Agency code before implementing it in India. Thus considering the above-mentioned facts, it would be appropriate to say that the doping law needs to have proper amendments following which the law needs to be implemented in a much efficient manner.

Betting and Gambling

Another area or sector that needs to be focused upon by the regulatory bodies and authorities is the issue of Betting and Gambling. Betting and Gambling in India is regulated by the Public Gambling Act of 1867. The law enables the states to regulate betting and gambling as they deem fit as long as it aligns with the Public Gambling Act of 1867. Before deciding whether an act is gambling or betting, one needs to distinguish between a sport being a “game of chance” or a “game of skills”. In absence of a predefined pattern or legislations, there is no particular way to determine a violation of the law and even if a violation is established, there is an absence of a predefined set of penalties. For instance, in the case of Ahmed v. State of Rajasthan[2], the court stated that match-fixing, it was not clear whether “dishonest concealment of facts” would come under the Indian Penal Code of 1860 or the Prevention of Corruption Act of 1988. Therefore, there is a need for properly discussed, debated, and deliberated legislation which can help in Betting, Gambling, and Match-fixing.

IP Rights Violations

The last major grey area which poses a lot of challenges to the legal front in the sports industry is the issue of Intellectual Property Rights. Presently, there are multiple laws and conventions regulating intellectual property in India which govern those involved in the Sports industry as well. Although the laws cover basic intellectual properties under the Copyright Act of 1957 (which helps in controlling rampant piracy and copyright infringement) and the Trademark Act of 1999 (which protects the logos, slogans, team names, etc.), there is no law or conventions for protecting trade secrets. Trade Secrets have a very important role to play in the sporting industry as there is always a possibility of some information being confidential which entails protection. The unauthorized acquisition, use, or disclosure of the trade secrets in a manner contrary to the well-being of the actual owner of the same would be held as an unfair practice and the same needs to be regulated by implementing strict and practical laws and regulations.

Conclusion

The sole purpose behind the implementation of Sports Law in India is to regulate the relations that exist among the frame of athletic activity on a national or an international level. Therefore the laws need to be futuristic, practical, and reasonable as well they should be improvised to suit the Indian Sporting fraternity. They should be able to deal with the issues that are plaguing the sports arena, only a portion of which are discussed above. It should be noted in absence of such laws there will be a total breakdown of the system and sports as we know would become devoid of the basic structure of fairness and safety of the interests of all the stakeholders. Therefore, there is an urgent need to protect the sport and the sportspersons by providing specific rules and regulations to govern and solve all the major and minor sports issues in India.

– Ishaan Michael

KIIT School of LawReferences

1. Emily Robert, Gender Relation in Sport (Sense Publishers, edn.1, 2013)
2. 1967 Cri LJ 1053(Raj.)