Is it legal to regulate sports?

-Sushant Mahajan The Oxford Dictionary defines sport as an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment1, even the dictionary definition says that sport is an activity for entertainment and like all other sources of entertainment, it is a basis of income for a lot of people and a lot of governments. With this thought in mind, Governments often aim at regulating sports to make sure there is proper accountability, the sports resources are properly utilized and there is transparency. This measure often leads to unwanted interference in the matters of sports and the politics in sports becomes greater than the sport itself. An important argument that surrounds the regulation of sports is, Whether or not it is legal to regulate sports? More than six hundred million people play sports professionally all over the world while almost all people enjoy sports as a leisure activity. Professor Jack F. Williams has quoted that the Sports Business Industry in the USA has generated approximately $213 Billion in revenue.2 This being an estimate of 2006 has grown substantially in the subsequent years. According to a report by the Indian Express, the Indian Premier League (IPL) was expected to earn Rs. 10,790 Crores during one of its stint.3 Furthermore with the help of the recently concluded India - England series held in England, the cricket led television advertising revenue is reported to have surpassed Rs. 2,000 Crores within the first seven months of 2011 the fastest so far.4 This tells how lucrative the Sports Industry has become during the years. A major concern that emerges with this rapid commercialization of sports from the point of view of the athletes is, the exploitation faced by them. This also puts up a lot of questions with regard to Human Rights violations. In the globalized sports community, athletes are treated as merchandise and often become victim of human traffickers. With regard to minor athletes, sports can in some cases amount to child labour and might infringe their right to development and other childrens rights. This puts a lot of question marks over the regulation of sports. This essay aims at weighing the
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http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/sport Professor Jack F. Williams, Georgia State University College of Law, Atlanta, Georgia in The Coming Revenue Revolution in Sports, Willamette Law Review. 3 http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/IPL-revenue-up-by-Rs-1-725-cr-set-to-earn-Rs-10-790-cr/433206/ 4 http://www.financialexpress.com/news/cricketled-tv-ad-revenue-crosses-r2-000cr-mark-in-7-months/821493/1

pros and cons of the effect of regulation of sports and thinking of a solution which balances all aspects. Sports in various countries are regulated with the help of legislations; these legislations not only restrict the right of individuals at various levels, but also leads to unwanted governmental interference in the matter of sports. Sports are often regulated by assistance from sporting federations such as, Federation International de Football Association (FIFA) for regulation of football worldwide. Similarly each country tends to have its own regulatory authority such as Hockey India (HI) which regulates hockey in India. The international as well as domestic regulatory authorities often fall trap to the politics that are existing in the socio-political scenario. The recent spat between Hockey India and Indian Hockey Federation, a parallel organization to Hockey India, has exposed the various feuds prevailing in the sporting federation over recognition and power. Though these organisations agreed to merge later but there was a long time for which there rivalry subsisted and the only individuals suffering here were the athletes.5 The International Olympic Charter 6in its head page goes on to say:Olympism is a philosophy of life, which places sport at the service of humankind. The Charter further goes on to say in its Fundamental Principles that:The practice of sport is a human right. Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.7 When this section is read in totality it conveys the message that as there are other rights that a human being enjoys, such as the right to life and the right to education, in the same way every individual has a right to practice sport. This right helps a person to practice the sport of his choice and do so without any discrimination of any kind. Thus regulation of sports leads to the restriction of a persons right, to exercise his right to practice sport. This right is not only given

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http://www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_govt-gives-hockey-india-indian-hockey-federation-two-day-ultimatum-to-merge_1553966 www.olympic.org/Documents/olympic_charter_en.pdf 7 Article 4 of Fundamental Principles of Olympism, International Olympic Charter

in the Olympic Charter but also in other documents. The International Charter of Physical Education and Sport8 in Article 1.1 says:Every human being has a fundamental right of access to physical education and sport, which are essential for the full development of his personality. The freedom to develop physical, intellectual and moral powers through physical education and sport must be guaranteed both within the educational system and in other aspects of social life. This charter is not only enshrined with the right to sport but further encompasses the fact that the practice of sport is an essential part of a human beings life and is important for the full development of his or her personality. Taking this fact into consideration the charter further gives all individuals the freedom to develop physically through sports. The International Charter for Physical Education and Sports also highlights that:Everyone must have full opportunities, in accordance with his national tradition of sport, for practising physical education and sport, developing his physical fitness and attaining a level of achievement in sport which corresponds to his gifts.9 As mentioned earlier the interference of governmental bodies acts as a hindrance in the satisfying of these provisions. A person might be capable of achieving many high standards in a particular sport but due to nepotism and favouritism he might not get a chance to represent his country or due to lack of, or unavailability of adequate facilities, his growth suffers a setback. Moreover many sporting regulations follow certain codes of conduct for prohibiting the use of drugs these codes often contain clauses by which the athletes have to disclose their locations at all times to the regulatory authorities. The recent Whereabouts Clause in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) regulations raised a lot of questions in the world sporting scenario. This the athletes felt was an invasion of their right to privacy. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights says:-

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International Charter of Physical Education and Sport, Adopted by the General Conference at its twentieth session, Paris, November 21st 1978. Article 1.2 of The International Charter for Physical Education and Sport.

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.10 This clause though violating the declaration still exists and is enforced upon unwilling athletes. A recent suit was initiated in Belgium against implementation of the WADA code. This suit highlighted the draconian clauses that exist in regulation of sports. Kristof de Saedeleer, a Brussels-based solicitor who specialises in sports law and was an important link to the suit said that to putting a whole town in prison to catch one criminal".11 In India recently a Sport Regulation Bill was drafted and put before the Cabinet Ministers for their approval. The bill was met with strong criticism and was given back for reconsideration. The Draft Bill was criticized for making government the autonomous head of all sports in India. The Olympic Charter says that the sports organisations within the Olympic movement shall have the power to behave in an autonomous way without any interference from any outside bodies. The critics of the bill say that the Draft Bill is not in consonance with the Olympic Charter as it gives the government, rather than the sports organisations the ultimate power. This criticism ironically magnified the need for sports regulation. This Bill was criticised for certain clauses such as the clause which limits the tenure of the heads of various sporting federations. Taking India as an example, the sporting federations are virtually ruled by certain individuals who stay in the place of the head for numerous years, taking advantage of their positions. The athletes are often not a part of the decision making process and, are sidelined and exploited. There have also been cases in which the child athletes who are talented but in capable of taking mature decisions are exploited by sports managers or over competitive parents, there also takes place human trafficking which causes many problems, these problems can be capably tackled with the help of an efficient legislation. When major sporting events are organized by country it needs effective measures to be taken to ensure that there is transparency in the organisation as well as selection, also it is necessary to ensure proper utilization of material and human resources. Sport sometimes also becomes a source of discrimination be it inter-caste,

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Article 12 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/front_page/7844918.stm

inter-race, or inter-gender. An effective legislation paves a way for a discrimination free practice of sports. The Indian Constitution provides the right to enjoyment of life and the right to education, these rights indirectly lead to the right to sport which is essential for the enjoyment of a dignified life and also for full development of an individual. Thus the right to practice sport is protected to some extent and people are free to practice sport of their choice. On the other hand with the growing commercialization of sports there are a lot of evils that are creeping into it. These evils range from exploitation of children to increasing discrimination in the field of sports. The only way to ensure that evils are separated from the sport is through an operative legislation which aims at curbing all these aspects. Thus regulation of sport is to some extent essential for the wellfunctioning of a sport but on the other hand like any other organisation these regulatory authorities have the tendency of becoming draconian and autocratic. This is an important question which has to be dealt with and the Draft Bill as proposed by the sports ministry is a well appreciated step and with proper guidance and through time this Bill might become a precedent for all other countries and various organisations.