Sports ministry approval needed to hold National Games, national championships

New Delhi:
The Sports Ministry on Monday issued guidelines and timelines the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) and national sports federations (NSF) have to follow to conduct National Games and national championships.
According to a letter sent by the ministry, IOA must submit a copy of its agreement with the host and other agreements for hosting the National Games six months in advance. It has set timelines for IOA to submit details on forming the Games Technical Conduct Committee (GTCC), competition programme, eligibility criteria of participants/states and teams. These are among a range of instructions.
Adhering to these instructions are mandatory to get the ministry's approval to hold the National Games and national championships.
'Based on the submissions and satisfaction of the requirements, the Ministry may seek additional information or require certain measures or steps to be undertaken to issue an approval to the said federation and the Host, which shall be required for hosting of the National Games or National Championships. Should no further requests be made by the Ministry within 15 days of due submission of all details, the approval of the Ministry shall be deemed to have been granted in respect of the event,' the ministry's letter says.
It says 'no person may seek a trademark registration in India or claim any other exclusive intellectual property rights in the name of National Games or National Championship without the prior written consent of this Ministry.'
Interestingly, the IOA constitution says, 'IOA have full and complete jurisdiction over all matters pertaining to the designation of the city and to organize the National Games every two years.'
The ministry wrote to IOA and NSFs that with India taking steps towards hosting the 2036 Summer Olympics and Paralympic Games and other major events, national events should be 'hosted with well-defined standards, adhering to proper norms'.
The ministry said compliance of these guidelines will be reviewed at the time of annual recognition of the federations in terms of the sports code.
'These events enable the medal winners to enjoy the benefits of different government policies and programmes, including sports quota benefits for admission in education institutions and in recruitments, besides opportunities for recognition as Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit. The conduct of these events for different age groups and genders is a function requirement for the annual recognition of the NSFs for the sports code.'
The ministry's notification said that at least six months prior to National Games, IOA and the host 'shall submit copy of the agreement entered into with the relevant state government and its departments (including all permissions) and agreements with all competition venues with respect to hosting of the event.'
The list of Games Technical Conduct Committee (GTCC) and other events committees, formed in accordance with the IOA constitution, should be submitted to the Ministry six months in advance.
In case of inclusion of a sports governed by an unrecognised NSFs, 'prior permission of the Sports Ministry must be taken for its inclusion and for formation of committees to look after conduct of events. This should be done 60 days before the Games.'
Forty five days prior to the Games, IOA and the host shall submit the actual schedule and all states/teams participating in the National Games. If any state team has not been invited or barred from sending entries, a written explanation is required, the ministry's letter said. A similar timeline will apply for IOA to provide written description of all measures to be undertaken in respect of anti-doping, age fraud, match integrity, prevention of sexual harassment and athlete welfare and safety, etc.
The Sports Ministry sought a list of participants, states/teams and results event wise within 30 days of completion of the event.
The National Games, revived in 2022, was hosted by Uttarakhand this year. There was a controversy over the technical conduct of taekwondo.
Similar guidelines have been put out for NSFs for hosting national championships. They will have to submit the competition programme 60 days in advance. The actual schedule and other details related to participation, and steps taken for anti-doping, age-fraud detection, etc., must be submitted 45 days in advance. The detailed results must be submitted within 30 days of an event's completion.

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