BCCI to come under National Sports Governance Bill? Here’s what will change for Indian cricket board

Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya introduced the National Sports Governance Bill in the Parliament on Wednesday in a move that is set to transform sport in India, including and especially cricket. The landmark bill aims to set the framework for transparent and fair functioning of National Sports Federations (NSFs) and promote athletes’ welfare as well as ethical practices in sport. It also aims to introduce measures for better resolution of administrative disputes.

The Sports Ministry plans on bringing about the changes by setting up a National Sports Board, which will have the authority to act on a host of issues including financial mismanagement and or dodgy elections and will even have the authority to suspend federations for failure to comply.

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The National Sports Governance Bill 2025 ushers in a transformative chapter for Indian sports

Guided by the visionary leadership of Prime Minister @narendramodi, it lays the foundation for a transparent, ethical, and performance-driven sporting ecosystem, propelling India… pic.twitter.com/1znlY23inh

— PIB India (@PIB_India) July 23, 2025

What’s unique about this bill is the fact that it finally brings the powerful Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which has long maintained autonomy, under government’s ambit.

How will the National Sports Governance Bill affect the BCCI? 

The biggest takeaway from the new Bill tabled in Lok Sabha on Wednesday is that the BCCI will finally be treated like any other NSF. The cricket board, which doesn’t receive government funding, wasn’t considered an NSF until 2019, and had only come under the RTI Act in the year 2020. The NSG Bill, however, automatically deems the BCCI an NSF, meaning it will come under the purview of the Sports Ministry’s rules and guidelines.

The BCCI, which is registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 and is in charge of running the sport in India, both at a domestic as well as international level, will thus have to comply with the “law of the land” even if they don’t take a cent from the government in terms of funding.

BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia and vice-president Rajeev Shukla, meanwhile, have stated that the board will be studying the Bill in detail after it’s tabled in the Parliament for more clarity.

Their inclusion in the list of NSFs comes at a time when cricket returns to the Olympic programme after more than a century at the 2028 Los Angeles Games, as well as at a time when the Government is eyeing hosting the 2036 Olympics in Ahmedabad.