Olympians want Lodha reforms in their sports

Twenty eight Olympians have filed a petition in the Supreme Court demanding the recommendations madebythejusticelodhacommittee for cricket be incorporated into all other sports in the country. The PIL has been filed in the wake of the Supremecourtpassingitsfinalorder, after it accepted its specially appointed Justice Lodha Committee's suggestions for sweeping reforms in the BCCI. Unlike the BCCI, all other sportsfederationsdependdirectlyon the government for funding.

Someofthekeyrecommendation madebythelodhapanelincludedisclosure of assets by players and officials, a maximum of three terms for office-bearerswithnomorethantwo consecutive terms, exclusion of minister's or government servants in a sports body and inclusion under RTI, among others.

The petitioners include Ashok Kumar Dhyan Chand, MK Kaushik, Jwala Gutta, Ashwini Nachappa, Edward Sequeira, GE Sridharan, Reeth Abraham, Gurbax Singh Grewal, Balbir Singh, Fortunato Franco, S S Narayan, Joaquim Carvalho, Vandana Rao, Pravin Thipsay, Bhagyasree Thipsay, Maya Meher, Nisha Millet, Aloysiusedwards,madhuyadav,kirti Azad, Bishen Singh Bedi, Sameer Bahadur, KPS Gill, Ashok Mathur and Virender Kumar.

“Since all the sports associations other than the BCCI fall within the remit of the Central Government, the Sports Ministry of Central Government can pass an order seeking the implementation of some of the recommendation of the Justice Lodha Committee in so far as other sports bodies are concerned,” the petitioners said in a release. “The petition is seeking a positive direction from the Hon'ble Court for the incorporation of some of the recommendations in other sports bodies. ENS