The Rajya Sabha passed the National Sports Governance Bill, 2025 on August 12, a day after its clearance in the Lok Sabha. The bill grants the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) big relief by keeping it outside the scope of national laws like the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
The Bill specifies that only sports bodies receiving direct financial assistance from the government are deemed “public authorities” under the RTI Act. Since the BCCI does not get such funding, it will remain excluded.
The National Sports Governance Bill seeks to recognise and regulate national sports bodies, aligning them with Olympic and Paralympic Charters and global best practices to improve transparency, accountability, and international collaboration opportunities.
Initially, Clause 15(2) of the Bill defined a recognised sports organisation as a “public authority” under the RTI Act, making its operations — including team selection and contract awards — open to public scrutiny.
This broad definition would have included the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
However, a later amendment narrowed the definition to only cover organisations receiving government grants or financial assistance, and even then, solely regarding the utilization of those funds.
This change excluded the BCCI — which does not take direct government funding — from RTI obligations, despite cricket’s impending inclusion in the Olympics and calls for greater transparency in the sport’s administration.
BCCI’s Stance and RTI Debate
BCCI maintains that it is a private, autonomous body registered under the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975, and not a “public authority” under the RTI Act. It does not receive direct government funding, and is not classified as a sports federation under the Union Sports Ministry
