Eminent sportsmen support sports bill

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Eminent sportsmen, including India's lone Olympic gold medallist champion Abhinav Bindra and 1983 World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev, on Thursday came out strongly in support of the proposed National Sports Development bill.

The stars stated that the bill was not only about cricket, but 66 other disciplines as well.

Kapil said vested interest are against the bill and the rule should be equal to all, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) cannot be an exception.

"I think nobody is above the law of the land and the BCCI should not be left out. May be it hurts somebody. I think personal interest of some individuals are coming in way of the bill. But national interest should always be above personal interest," said Kapil, during a media interaction organised by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) on the bill.

"If a law is passed, everyone should fall under it irrespective of whether it is the BCCI or any other sports body. The bill seeks to have more sportspersons in the sports bodies and if someone has given so many years to the sport, why can he or she be back in that game as an administrator? It will benefit the young generation," said Kapil, adding that cabinet ministers, who have conflict of interest, should stay away from discussions on the bill.

The event was also attended by Olympic silver medal winning shooter Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, former badminton player Prakash Padukone, ex-national football captain Bhaichung Bhutia, ace-cueist Pankaj Advani, ex-hockey player Viren Rasquinha and former athlete Ashwini Nachappa.

India's first individual Olympic champion Bindra in a recorded video message said that he supports the bill and requested the cabinet to pass it in the winter session of the Parliament.

"For the first time in my career I am seeing that honest steps are being taken to help sports and sportspersons. I wholeheartedly support the bill and urge the cabinet to approve it in the winter session," he said.

Rathore, the first Indian to win an individual silver medal in Olympics, was the most vocal and said that concrete steps are being taken for the first time to bring in transparency in Indian sports.

He blasted the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) for not specifying the contentious points in the bill which threatens to take away their autonomy.

"They (IOA) are saying that the bill will take away their autonomy. But they are not specific in discussing the points. I request them to come out with the specific points so that we can clear all doubts. Till now not a single sports federation has come out with a single specific complain on the bill," he said.

Bhutia said the bill, which proposes 25 per cent reservation for sportsperson in the governing body of a federation, will only benefit the federation.

"We are just calling for a minimum 25 per cent representation in the governing body. This is the least we deserve after having represented the nation for a long time. I doubt if a sports federation's president has not delivered for 12 years what will he contribute if he gets another term," he said.