Introduction

Sports play an integral part of our life and culture and has become a very important feature of modern-day society. Such immense significance has motivated the educational study of sports making it the focus of several historical, geographical, philosophical inquiries. But due to the increased materialistic of sports, the profitable features of sports have assumed the utmost significance.

Another reason for the law becoming very important is that the law of the sports has been largely internal and this is mainly done by the new advent of sports governing or regulating bodies at national as well as international levels. These governing bodies which generally possess legal structures and interests of associations they not only have the power to enjoy autonomy with regards to the sports they govern but also get engaged in various other activities such as employment relationships, commercial transactions, regulation of corruption and cheating. And other functions.

The Indian scenario of sports is similar to this. The governing bodies of sports such as the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), Board of control for cricket in India (BCCI) are sovereign to a great extent. However, it seems suitable to mention that the autonomy of these sports bodies is not complete or total. The reason is that sports have been mentioned in the seventh schedule (entry 23 ) of the constitution. The regulating bodies of sports which are concerned with the management of other various sports activities in the country are registered as associations in different states and fall under the authority of the state.

Sports law is the combination of laws that applies to athletes and the sports they play. Sports laws are well-developed patterns of internalized regulations of various sporting activities in the country that generally fall under the administration of states.

Significance of Sports Law

Without the rigid body of laws governing the performance of the players, and the regulating bodies that function sports, it would not have been as successful and important as it is today. It would have been in a state of disorder or chaos. With more events of sports activities taking place each year increasing the participation of more people in sports.

Sports law make sure that every player gets equal opportunities to participate and are therefore not discriminated against on the grounds of religion, caste, sex, gender and also are not distinguished. Sports involve a larger number of talented individuals as participants without doing any kind of biases.

It is also very important for the leaders to develop and clarify the competencies to apply the principles of sports law effectively with respect to the athletic competition or program.

Sports law safeguards the employment of players. When a player is at fault then the sports law commands the regulating body to look into it. In order to avoid any kind of spiteful practices in the industry.

However, there is an urgent need for legislation that not only deals with the smooth functioning of the sports activities but also taking disciplinary action against the sports agents, players, coaches so as to ensure ethical sporting practices and to prevent the players from doing illegal or unlawful activities and also to restore balance as well as protect the interests of sports. Without these strict laws for controlling the conduct of sports players and governing authorities sports is not getting the acknowledgement it deserves.

Sports Legislation in India

There is no state or national legislation for the ruling of sports in India. The Government of India had set up the ministry of youth affairs and sports to promote capacity building for sports and also to organize various national and international events to achieve excellence in sports. The national sports federation of India is responsible for promoting basic principles of sports at the national level within the framework. The National Sports Federation is self-governing in nature and the ministry of sports and youth affairs has issued various notifications for the regulations or ruling of it.

The sports in India is regulated by four organizations namely:-

1. National sports policy:- The decision to create a National sports policy was laid down in both the houses of parliament in August 1984.

It was created with the main purpose of raising the standard of sports in the country.

The National Sports Policy of 1981 provided among others that the progress which was made every five years will be evaluated to determine the course of action as needed further.

There are three basic objectives:-

1. To define the areas of responsibility that are involved in the development and encouragement of sports.

2. To recognize the National sports federations which are eligible for coverage under these guidelines, to provide all the details that are to be followed by the federations

3. To state all the conditions for the eligibility which the government will rely upon while releasing grants.

2. Sports Law and Welfare Association of India:- It is a national non-profit organization with a common goal of understanding the development and social practices of sports law in India for the encouragement of sports by bringing sports professionals and legal representatives together. This organization basically deals with matters relating to general sports and law issues, Intellectual property issues, smooth functioning of governing bodies. Its objective is to discuss more legal issues and also to encourage the various perspectives on the positions of sports law as well as provide a platform for the lawyers representing teams, educational institutions, conferences and various other organizations.

3. Sports Authority of India:-It is one of the apex body of sports in India. It coordinates various activities in sports. Established in 1982. It has extended its operation to a wide range of sports. It develops various schemes at different levels of sports such as junior, senior to widen the sports and develop the quality by improving the skills of Indian sportspersons.

4. Sports Broadcasting Law in India:- This act was passed in 2007 with the main aim to provide permission to the largest number of listeners and viewers on a free basis, on sporting activities of national significance, by sharing sports telecasting signals with Prasar Bharati. This act strictly lays down the rule that no content

the right owner or television broadcasting holder will carry any live programme on cable or directly to the home network of sports unless it shares its live telecasting signals without advertisements with Prasar Bharati which will allow them to telecast on television or other platforms. This is done to develop eagerness among people for sports and to encourage sports events among a wide range of people.

Requirement of Proper Legislations

Although getting support and guidance from the Government regulating bodies and encouragement from the people still the sports industry in India needs progression and is lagging. However, sports is getting criticized for many wrong events which are taking place such as corruption, betting, match-fixing, and also the heinous crimes against women like sexual harassment. Competition in sports is increasing day by day and to keep pace with it some illegal procedures are therefore adopted basically to win the match. But one of the most significant aspects of it is that India established the associations of sports based on morals, ethics and pure talent of the players. It does not trust in adopting these illegal techniques to win the match for the sake of gaining popularity and winning.

There are various issues where the players have to mediate their working hours, training conditions on their own just because their representatives are not performing their duties well. One of the major issues in sports is the addiction to drugs issue. Many precautions have been taken for the players to protect them from consuming drugs but they get addicted to it. There is a need to check all the actions of the government organizations and the sports federation bodies who are involved in regulating sports.

For these reasons and purposes, proper and strict legislation has to be implemented including penalties and punishment such as imprisonment for all illegal activities which are carried out in sports. There should be strict guidelines which have to be adhered to by all the sports players so that the situation can be controlled and the event can be organized smoothly.

Sports and Competitoon Law

The act came into force in 2002 as was introduced in order to keep pace with the fiscal reforms and concentrate on the regional expertise in the country. When two teams are playing in two separate teams against each other they are said as competing against each other. This competing spirit in the players not only encourages them but also gives rise to revenues through games.

Competition is what gets the players paid for their assistance or services in the game as well as to make sure of the flow of income in the industry. Sports is very organized; where at one end the regulating body looks over and controls most of the financial aspects of each sport and on the other hand looks after all the sports events which are organized and the overall work. The competition law looks after these regulating bodies and protects the market from exploitative practices.

As far as our country India is concerned, the BCCI (Board of control for cricket in India) holds the ruling or governing position. BCCI controls and improves the standard and quality of cricket, makes rules and regulations to prevent competitive organizations from emerging as they tie players in, and also restrict them from competing in various events. These rules are issues of challenge under competition law. The nature of sports which used to revolve around gaming has now transformed into a commercial business. Wherever commercialization comes their competition law plays an active role.

Conclusion

The sports industry is one of the powerful and most important industries in India as it has various talents. It has support from the government bodies along with participation and involvement and dedication of its players. Moreover, it generates money and allowances to cater to the necessities of the players. It has also developed various good strategies to be put up in a game, and have set higher goals to achieve. But the most essential thing is to maintain discipline which has been incorporated by following strict rules and legislations, It is the laws and rules that have made the strong foundation and have built pillars in sports for us to see the sports industry still landing on its own.

-Neha Mohanty

KIIT School of Law