New Delhi: The Sports Authority of India has decided to appoint qualified CEOs to professionalise the management of the National Sports Federations (NSFs).
The decision was taken at the 42nd governing body meeting of the SAI chaired by Sports Minister Jitendra Singh here yesterday.
The remuneration of the CEOs will be borne by the SAI. It was also decided during the meeting that the government would not interfere in the recruitment of the chosen professionals.
The sports ministry had in October sent out letters to the top NSFs seeking their views on the appointment of CEOs to run their affairs more professionally.
The letters went out to 13 federations — archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, football, canoeing/kayaking, gymnastics, hockey, rowing, shooting, swimming, wrestling and wushu — and School Games Federation of India. Only badminton, canoeing/kayaking, wrestling and SGFI got back.
The NSFs turned down the ministry's proposal on the pretext that they already run the federations professionally and don't feel the need to appoint a CEO.
Currently, only hockey and basketball have CEOs as administrative heads. Elena Norman, an Australian with her wealth of experience in sports management, is working as Hockey India's CEO.
There are 54 NSFs in the country and the CEOs are expected to run the federation like a professional body. Among other important decisions were "the setting up of the 'world-class' Sports Museum at the Major Dhyanchand National Stadium, with technical assistance from professional agencies and support of corporate organisations" and "promotion of sports in tribal, Jammu and Kashmir, north-east and naxal affected areas to promote indigenous sports by setting up of Special Area Games (SAG) centers".
Other decisions were - setting up of private academies to be run by eminent sportspersons/agencies at SAI facilities across the country on revenue-sharing basis; setting up sports academies by SAI to nurture talent of young sportspersons; renting out the various stadia and the attached areas for non-sporting events to augment revenue generation and to better utilise of legacy infrastructure; promotion of Budo in the country by setting up in the first phase, a pilot center for Budo at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
The governing body also took note of the fact that SAI has extended substantial financial assistance to the NSFs during the past four years - 2009-10: Rs 8020.41 lakhs, 2010-11: 10337.18 lakhs, 2011-12: 13603.38 lakhs and 2012-13: 13057.26 lakhs.
The governing body also decided that all NSFs receiving financial support from SAI must recognise the contribution of SAI by prominently displaying the SAI logo in all publicity material, official merchandise, and sports kits during all domestic and international sporting events.
