India may allow OCIs in sports

NEW DELHI: India’s ongoing struggles in sports such as football, tennis and swimming have troubled administrators, some correlating it with the prevailing policy that bars Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) card holders from representing the nation. In 2008, an order from the ministry of youth affairs and sports (MYAS) directed all national sports federations (NSFs) to permit only sportspersons with a valid Indian passport to represent India in international events. This regulation was later challenged by UK-based OCI card holding squash player Karm Kumar, but the Delhi high court upheld the rule in 2010. TOI has now learnt that the govt is considering reversing this policy to allow OCI or Person of Indian Origin (PIO) card holders to represent India in international competitions. “Yes, the govt is considering allowing the OCI/PIO card holders to play for India. The idea has been deliberated upon. There are certain sports where India isn’t a force to reckon with. The govt wants to strengthen such disciplines to boost the country’s sporting ecosystem. There is no harm in reconsidering the policy decision made in 2008,” a ministry source said. In the past, Indian-origin athletes such as tennis player Prakash Amritraj (nationality United States), Shikha Uberoi (USA), Sunitha Rao (USA), squash player Karm Kumar (UK) and swimmer Ankur Poseria (USA) represented India as OCI card holders before the policy change kicked in. BCCI to adopt Olympic disciplines Ministry sources also informed that the rich and powerful Indian cricket board (BCCI) has agreed to adopt two to three Olympic disciplines as part of the govt’s plan to have individual Centres of Excellence for each sport, on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis. Sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya held a meeting with representatives from 58 corporate houses here on Thursday, where it was discussed how each sport could be backed by corporates. “Rajeev Shukla represented BCCI in this meeting. He said the board is willing to adopt two to three Olympic disciplines. BCCI is ready to entirely fund and develop these disciplines. “The ministry’s plan is to build Olympic centres for each sport, which would train 100 to 200 of the best athletes in the country keeping in mind the current and the next Olympic cycles,” the source said. NSFs told to have elected bodies The ministry has directed some of the country’s faction-ridden NSFs to put their house in order and have a duly-elected body in place. The ministry wants to keep former judges and administrators out of the sports governance and wants an elected set of officebearers to take charge.