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Author - Associate Megha Motwani

{This artcle focuses on: corruption in sports in india, corruption in sports, corruption in indian sports, types of corruption in sports, corruption in sport, corruption in sports essay gcse}

Sports law

The significance of sports is much more than being a pastime and recreational activity. They have been transformed into an organized activity coupled with enormous professionalism and affecting almost every area of public life, may it be social, political or economic. Although the pace of this transformation was slow during the 19th and most part of the 20th century, it has boosted enormously in the past few decades owing to globalization of technology and commerce and due to increased commercialization of sports, currently the economic dimension of sports has assumed utmost significant Statistically, organized sports are a multibillion-dollar industry with a global worth ranging between 350 billion and 450 billi ($480-$620 billion).5 A 2006 report estimated that macroen nomic impact of sports in the European Union (EU) accounted from 3.7 percent of EU GDP, providing employment to 5.4 per cent of the entire labour force. Such all-round significance of sports in public life necessitates law to play a major role in order to regulate it in a better manner.

Another reason why the role of law becomes excessively important is that regulation of sports has largely been internal, that is, done through newly emerging sports governing bodies, at both international and national levels. These bodies, which generally possess institutional and legal structures and interests of private associations, not only enjoy a great level of autonomy with respect to deciding the rules of the particular sports they govern but are also engaged in licensing of playing facilities, employment relationships, commercial transactions, regulation of corruption and cheating, and many more important functions. Several of these functions are those that are generally performed by the State or its agents, and are crucial from the view of the fundamental rights (FRs) of the individuals.

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How has it been?

Sport, as per sociologists; was initially an act in leisure, indulged in to relax, and is informal.  Play does not entail formal rules or codes of regulation. There are no institutions governing play since its run is governed and determined by the participants.

What has changed?

Today’s sport is formal and organized. It is governed by a hierarchy-based structure with a top-down approach. It has rules and institutions implement those rules. Since sport is rule based, it is aimed to serve multiple purposes for those who participate in the process and are geared towards a different level of competition. Thus, currently sports are more concerned with the rules and regulations and hence have the potential of giving rise to conflict.

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Corruption related cases

Every sport is indulged in and permitted its minor insufficiencies for as long as its heart is inherently seen as spotless. The common corrupt activities witnessed in sports like doping, match fixing, spot fixing and the cases of same are explained below.

a. Allegations of match-fixing were first asserted in 1979-1980 against the visiting Pakistan team in the third test match played between India and Pakistan at Mumbai, and it was alleged that they had lost the test match intentionally.[1]

b. In 1992-1993 Australian players Dean Jones asserted that an Indian offered him $40,000 to leak team information about strategies and tactics.

c. In February 1995, Mark Waugh and Shane Warne confessed that they had acknowledged installments ranging from $2,500 to $15,000 from bookies for giving information. The Australian Cricket Board fined Waugh $10,000 and Warne $8,037 but kept the matter secret and shrouded in mystery, and the fine forced on the cricketers was an extremely gentle punishment considering the magnitude of the data that they had leaked.

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Recent instance

The Sports Authority of India (SAI) on January 24 2019 has suspended four of its officials, after they were arrested and charged of corruption by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

These four alleged officials belonging to the administrative wing have been suspended for demanding 3 per cent cut to clear a transport bill of ₹19 lakh.

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Impact of law

To fight back with the sports corruption various rules, regulations and policies are in place. For instance: to combat fraud there is the Sporting Fraud Bill, 2013, for doping cases there is Anti-Doping Rules, 2015, for Gender related issues with women there is The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. Moreover, The National Sports Ethics Commission Bill, 2016 has been made to ensure ethical practices and fair play in sports including elimination of doping practices, match fixing, fraud of age and sexual harassment of women in sports and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

These rules have directly impacted players and have made them conscious of every step they take. To point out I would like to mention here the Article 10.4 and 10.5 of the WADC 2015 which apply in exceptional circumstances such as where an athlete could prove that, despite all due care and caution, s/he was sabotaged by a competitor. Conversely, ‘No Fault or Negligence' would not apply in the following circumstances:

1. A positive test resulting from a mislabeled or contaminated vitamin or nutritional supplement (athletes are responsible for what they ingest [Article 2.1.1] and have been warned against the possibility of supplement contamination).

2. The administration of a prohibited substance by the athlete’s personal physician or trainer without disclosure to, athlete (athletes are responsible for their choice of medical personnel and for advising medical personnel that they cannot be given any prohibited substance).

3. Sabotage of the athlete's food or drink by a spouse or other person within the athlete's circle of associates (athletes are responsible for what they ingest and for the conduct of those persons to whom they entrust access to their food and drink).

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[1] https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/sport/story/19990322

{This artcle focuses on: corruption in sports in india, corruption in sports, corruption in indian sports, types of corruption in sports, corruption in sport, corruption in sports essay gcse}