New Delhi, August 30: A controversial bill, aimed at regulating the functioning of national sports federations and putting an age limit on their bosses, on Tuesday failed to go through Cabinet due to stiff resistance by a number of ministers.
At the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the National Sports Development Bill was discussed and a number of ministers raised objections, sources said.
Subsequently, it was decided that the bill should be re-worked by the Sports Ministry before it could be again considered.
In the Cabinet, at least three ministers — Vilasrao Deshmukh, C. P. Joshi and Farooq Abdullah — head Cricket Associations while Sharad Pawar is the president of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Praful Patel is the chief of the All India Football Federation.
The bill had sought to bring in revolutionary changes in the functioning of sports bodies in the country, which included putting an age limit of 70 years and tenure restrictions besides bringing these bodies under RTI. PTI
