Refer sports Bills to Joint Parliamentary Committee: Opposition urges Lok Sabha Speaker

Opposition leaders of several parties on Wednesday (August 6, 2025) wrote to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, urging him to refer the National Sports Governance Bill, 2025 and the National Anti-Doping (Amendment) Bill, 2025 to a joint committee of Parliament for further scrutiny.

In a letter to the Speaker, they said the two Bills listed for consideration and passage in the House need broader consensus.

“In view of their national importance, the need for broad consensus, and the value of consulting relevant stakeholders, we respectfully request that both these Bills be referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for further deliberation,” the Opposition leaders said.

The signatories to the letter include K. C. Venugopal, Gaurav Gogoi and K. Suresh of the Congress, Supriya Sule the NCP (SP) Lok Sabha member, Trinamool Congress’ Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, the DMK’s K. Kanimozhi, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant, RSP’s N. K. Premachandran, VCK’s D. Ravi Kumar, MDMK’s Durai Vaiko and IUML’s E. T. Mohammed Bashir, among others.

The leaders argued that the Bills propose wide-ranging reforms in the governance, regulation, and ethical oversight of sports in India.

“They have serious implications for our sportspersons, sports federations, and India’s standing in international sporting bodies,” the letter said.

“A JPC would ensure a more comprehensive and participatory process, allowing for careful scrutiny of the provisions, potential implications, and alignment with international standards. We hope this request will be taken into account to help ensure fair and effective governance reforms in the Indian sporting ecosystem,” it added.

The National Sports Governance Bill seeks to provide for recognition of national sports bodies and regulate their functioning, while the National Anti-Doping Bill aims to strengthen India’s anti-doping framework.

The move by Opposition comes after the government got the two Bills passed in the Lok Sabha amid protests and disruption by the Opposition over their demand to have a discussion on the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.