Bhutia, Gopichand, Narang & Anju in ministry body to review National Sports Code

Former football captain Baichung Bhutia, ace badminton coach Pullela Gopichand, Olympic bronze-medallist shooter Gagan Narang and former long jumper Anju Bobby George were on Thursday named in a 13-member expert committee formed by the Sports Ministry to review the controversial Draft National Sports Code 2017, sources said.

The experts will review the code vis-a-vis the present code and will examine the comments received by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and various National Sports Federations (NSF) related to the new draft.

The committee, which has has been formed to suggest measures to make the Sports Code acceptable to all the stakeholders, will be headed by Supreme Court judge Justice (Retd) Mukundakam Sharma as its chairman. Joint Secretary of Sports will act as the coordinator in the committee.

The National Sports Federations (NSFs) will be represented by Boxing Federation of India (BFI) chief Ajay Singh, Sudhanshu Mittal (Kho Kho Federation of India), Adille Sumariwalla (Athletics Federation of India) and B.P. Baishya (Weightlifting Federation of India).

The draft will propose some major changes in the 2011 Code, including barring of ministers, members of Parliament and Legislative Assemblies and government servants from holding office in the IOA and NSFs, sources in the know of development said.

Meanwhile, the IOA and the NSFs will have six months to amend their constitutions as mentioned in the draft.