Madras HC Expresses Concern over Conflicts between Sports Associations Hurting Prospects of Young Athletes

With a vision to make the country a superpower in sports, the Government of India has promoted the Khelo India movement, but in pursuit of power and authority, sports associations are relentlessly involved in inter se conflicts, the Madras High Court recently said while expressing deep concern over this issue.

In a case pertaining to the Tamil Nadu Football Association, a division bench comprising Justices R Mahadevan and Mohammed Shaffiq underscored that this struggle for power within various sports associations across the nation is leading to adverse consequences not only in terms of organisational stability but also the prospects of young athletes.

“It would create a sense of lack of clarity in the minds of the young sportspersons and also would lower their morale and defeat their spirit,” said the bench.

In a batch of pleas pertaining to the identification of office bearers of the Tamil Nadu Football Association, the division bench appointed an administrative committee led by retired High Court Judge AK Rajan and also comprising two sports professionals, R Basheer Ahmed and Harjinder Singh, as well as legal experts Stalin Abhimanyu and Kanimozhi Mathi to oversee the affairs of the association until new office-bearers are elected.

The committee has been entrusted with the responsibility of convening a meeting with district-level sports associations to address their concerns and grievances before facilitating the elections for the state-level governing body.

In addition, the committee has been granted the authority to manage day-to-day activities, including organising matches and selecting players through a transparent and equitable process.

The committee has been also asked to conduct the elections for the district bodies too after finalising the voters’ list.

Authoring the order, the division bench wrote, “The spirit behind Khelo India Movement is to unearth the talent and potential from every possible part of our diverse and vast country, both in terms of landscape and population. However, in this case, due to the disputes between the plaintiffs and the defendants, some sports events, tournaments or competitions could not be conducted”.

“Sport is always regarded as a potent tool to achieve human development such as psychological and physical rehabilitation. It is construed as a bridge, which would associate with peace and social mobilisation by providing a physical foot point,” it said.