ICYMI - The Month in Sports Law & Policy News

Last updated : Nov 29, 2017 12:11

SportzPower Team

Nov 08, 2017 17:11

Part I – Top Stories of the Month

1. NADA and National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority sign MoU for Athlete Awareness

The National Anti-Doping Authority (“NADA”) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) with the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (“NPPA”) to create a website and mobile application-based service through which Indian athletes will be able to verify whether the use of any prescribed medicine, drug or supplement is prohibited under the WADA Anti-Doping Code. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2017.

2. AITA receives recognition from MYAS after a year

Over a year after its renewal as a National Sports Federation was put on hold due to non-compliance with the Sports Code, the All India Tennis Association has been re-recognised as an NSF by the MYAS. The MYAS had previously asked Mr. Anil Khanna to resign from election as President of the AITA, as his election to the position in 2012 came after he had served two consecutive terms as the AITA’s General Secretary, contrary to the Sports Code that bars officials from re-election after serving two consecutive terms of four years, and prescribes a cooling-off period of four years thereafter.

3. Committee Proposes Extensive Changes to University-Level Sports in India

The eight-member Labh Singh Committee, appointed by the MYAS earlier this year to prepare a Comprehensive National University Sports Tournament and Development Framework, has recommended wholesale changes in the conduct of sports and games at the University-level. In its submission to the MYAS, the Committee has, among other things, recommended the constitution of the University Sports Federation of India, an overhaul of the competition system, pruning of number of disciplines in the all-India Universities calendar, introduction of special league tournaments, enhanced honours, cash awards, scholarships and grace marks, digitisation of the sports data repository and the development of LNIPE, Gwalior as a mother institute for university sports.

4. Olympic Task Force Submits Final Report to Government

The eight-member Olympic Task Force (“OTF”) constituted to recommend the roadmap for improving India's performance in the next three Olympics has submitted its final report to the Government. Primary among the recommendations are the formation of an 'Empowered Steering Committee' for the Tokyo Olympics, the removal of salary caps for Indian coaches, the introduction of a 'Pradhan Mantri Gold Card' for elite athletes and coaches whereby they can gain access to emergency quotas in air, rail and bus ticket, and a 24-hour National Anti-Doping Agency helpline to assist athletes on what supplements are legal to use.

5. Law Commission seeks BCCI inputs on Legalising Betting

The Law Commission of India (“LCI”), which has been tasked to examine the possibility of legalising betting in the country, as sought suggestions of the member units of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (“BCCI”) before submitting its recommendations before the Supreme Court. The apex court had mandated the LCI to undertake such a study after the Justice Lodha Committee recommendations that betting should be legalised by law.

6. Players and Cricket Australia sign MoU

The long-standing pay dispute between Cricket Australia and Australian Cricketers Association (“ACA”) has been resolved after the agreement of terms for the signing of an MoU for five years. Under this arrangement, between 27.5% - 30% of Australian cricket revenue over the next five years will be distributed such that the players (men and women) receive 19% - 21.5% of revenue and grassroots levels of the game receive 8.5%. Players will also receive any additional revenue in excess of the threshold of A$1.96 billion over the next five years, in the same ratio. The ACA will continue to receive funding from CA, through payment for CA’s use of the players' personality rights for broadcasting, promotion and sponsorship of the game.

7. BCCI submits suggestions on CoA's draft constitution

As per the direction, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has submitted the suggestions on the draft proposal prepared by the Committee of Administrators (CoA) on the new constitution of the cricket body before the Supreme Court. Last month, the apex court had reprimanded the BCCI for its constant delay in the implementation of Justice (Retd.) R.M. Lodha-led committee`s recommendations. Issuing a warning to three BCCI office bearers — Anirudh Choudhary, Amitabh Choudhary and C.K. Khanna — the Supreme Court had asked the trio to give suggestions on the cash-rich cricket body`s draft constitution or else face serious consequences.

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11.IOC launches new approach to candidature process for Olympic Winter Games 2026

The IOC has launched a new ‘Candidature Process’ for bidding that is based on increased flexibility and an in-depth dialogue with the IOC and the Olympic Movement. It has been reformed and redesigned to enable cities and NOCs to have even more sustainable, feasible and cost-effective Olympic Winter Games, and to align with their local, regional and national long-term development goals. The process is in line with the Olympic Agenda 2020, the strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement, and comes in the backdrop of reduced global interest in hosting the Olympic Games.

12. Chris Gayle wins defamation case against Oz publisher

Cricketer Chris Gayle has won a defamation case against Fairfax Media after a jury found a series of articles published in 2016 which alleged he had inappropriately exposed himself to a masseuse n a Sydney dressing room during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015were untrue. The jury held that Fairfax Media - which publishes The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and the Canberra Times - had not justified its reporting of the incident on either the basis of truth or of qualified privilege, which weighs up the public interest value of published information and whether or not the media outlet acted reasonably. Following the verdict, Fairfax Media indicated concerns with the conduct of the case and that the company would be considering an appeal.

13. Commonwealth Games Federation adopts first ever human rights policy

The Commonwealth Games Federation has adopted its first ever human rights policy. The statement outlines the Commonwealth sports movement’s ambition and responsibility to champion human rights. Programmes, activities and agreements with future host cities and partners will promote the protection and enjoyment of human rights. This human rights policy will represent the next step of CGF’s commitment to embed human rights management of CGF and continue to evaluate human rights impacts as part of the process of reviewing the CGF's wider governance structure, including how such considerations impact CGF's work with global sponsor and broadcast partners.

14. BCCI charts FTP for women's team

The Board of Control for Cricket in India is planning to have a Future Tours Programme (FTP) for the women’s team at par with the men’s team. This call for overseas schedule and a franchise based tournament for the women cricketers have gained a lot of momentum after India’s heroics in the Women’s World Cup earlier this year. The plan is to have a FTP at the international level like the men's team for ODIs and T20s, thus giving better opportunities to the women’s team to compete at the international level.

15. CoA to discuss NADA affiliation for cricketers in next meeting

The BCCI will soon have a meeting with the CoA to chalk out a plan to deal with mounting pressure from the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) that wants whereabouts of information of athletes about their location be submitted, which will include them in their respective registered testing pool as part of the top elite athletes’ anti-doping responsibilities. There is a Committee of Administrators (CoA) meeting in Mumbai on November 3, where the issue will be discussed. The BCCI had hired Sweden’s International Drug Testing Management (IDTM) for testing work and is and is not a signatory to NADA code.As of now, the BCCI is unlikely to budge from its current stand of following the WADA code under ICC and feels no obligation to comply with NADA’s demands of anti-dope test.

16. Indian fantasy sports regulatory body launched

The Federation of Indian Fantasy Sports (FIFS) was officially launched on October 24 in India. The non-profit group represents 13 daily fantasy sports (DFS) operators and is supposed to protect users by creating a regulatory frame to operate in the country. Genesis Burson Marsteller (GBM), a leading public advocacy firm, will be in charge of managing the Federation. It aims to be a self-regulatory body supported by its members to address the issues and opportunities of the Fantasy Sports industry in an efficient manner. All operators are looking forward to working with FIFS in the exponentially growing industry in order to protect all Indian users’ interests through a self-regulatory framework.

17. ICC confirms Test championship, ODI league

The International Cricket Council has approved the Test Championship and One-Day International League after ICC's governing body's meeting. The Test series league will see nine teams play six series over two years – three home and three away, while the ODI league will be a direct qualification pathway towards the ICC Cricket World Cup and will be contested by the 12 full members plus the winners of the current ICC World Cricket League Championship.

18.DD plans dual feed for DD Sports

State-owned broadcaster Doordarshan is planning to have a dual programming feed for its sports channel DD Sports, following the Supreme Court verdict in August, asking the broadcaster to stop airing the sporting events of national importance on cable and private direct-to-home (DTH) operators. The Supreme Court in August had upheld a Delhi high court ruling of 2015 and had given a verdict stating that Prasar Bharati, which runs Doordarshan, can air the feed it gets from private sports broadcasters only on its terrestrial network and its own DTH platform, Free Dish and not on Doordarshan channels carried by cable and private DTH platforms.

19. Ministries to promote women's participation in sports

Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi on Wednesday announced that she will be working with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports to empower women’s participation in sports.In her address at an event organised by her Ministry and UNICEF to celebrate International Day of the Girl Child, she said that a campaign will be launched to motivate girls and women to take up sports. She affirmed that the Ministry is willing to contribute funds to develop the sports infrastructure for girls.

20.T20 Global League postponed to November 2018

South Africa's new domestic Twenty20 competition has been postponed by 12 months until November 2018.The inaugural T20 Global League was set to begin on November 2017 with England's Eoin Morgan, Jason Roy and Kevin Pietersen among the 'marquee' internationals. The decision was taken at a joint Cricket South Africa and T20 Global League board meeting. The South African Cricketers' Association expressed "concern and disappointment" at the decision. It has also called for an independent review into the reasons for the postponement, as well as calling for recompense for affected players.