Sports Dispute Resolution In India

26th March, 2022 - 10:59 am Categories: Sports Law 0 Comments

INTRODUCTION

Sports has always been a vital part of the Indian culture. With time, commercial sports are becoming one of the largest industries globally. After sports industrialise, there is a requirement of legislation to govern the sports and similar activities in an industrial aspect. Previously, only thing that mattered was the sportsmanship but now since sports have gained fame and recognition there are some corrupted practices which interfere with the sanctity of sports due to which sports law become a necessity to govern and regulate the sports related practices. Since sports related disputes are now on rise there is a need to incorporate an alternate to litigation to render speedy justice within affordable means. Arbitration, in this regard must be considered as an effective tool to resolve such disputes.

BODIES GOVERNING SPORTS LAW IN INDIA

In India we have various bodies such as: Sports law and welfare association of India; Sports Authority of India; Sports broadcasting law in India; Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. The Sports Authority of India (SAI) is the apex body in India set up by the ministry of youth affairs and sports in 1984 which works at the national level to conduct various sports activities in the country. Whereas the sports law and welfare association of India works for the promotion off the ethical practice of sports in India visit goal to improve the existing laws related to sports and two ensure the smooth functioning of the sports industry. Although, there are various government bodies start ensuring the functioning of these sports industry in India, India still lacks at having a separately dedicated legislation related to sports in India.

SPORTS ARBITRATION IN INDIA

Presently, there is a huge number of cases piled up in India which restrains the speedy justice and led to delayed dispute resolution. To overcome this, India has set up various authorities to resolve dispute that manage and regulate the issues that arise in the sphere of sports law in the country.

In the year 2011, the Indian Court of Arbitration for Sports was set up as an official body to introduce ADR mechanism within the purview of sports related disputes in the most efficient way possible. But there are several cases experiencing prolonged hearing causing delayed justice and decreasing the limited lifespan of an athlete as a sportsperson.

ROLE OF CAS

The Court of Arbitration for sports (CAS) is a global sports dispute resolution body. Jurisdiction of CSS is derived from the rules forming a part of the sporting bodies constitution or by an ad hoc arbitration agreement. CSS was established through the Swiss Equest case.

There are various cases internationally that have used the forum created by CAS to resolve sports related disputes but in India the arbitration is governed by the Arbitration and Conciliation Act which is mainly based on the structure of UNCITRAL Model law and is pertinent to arbitrations in India. According to this act India’s monetary changes will get to be compelling just if the countries dispute resolution procurements are turn into universal administration. Sports arbitration is an evolving branch of alternate dispute resolution which need new vision and system to oblige one-of-a-kind necessities of the dispute resolution. The sports arbitration needs to give an acceptable resolution stop disputes considering different components in sports law.

ADVANTAGES OF INVOKING ARBITRATION

Life of an athlete as a sports person is limited and the traditional justice system has a huge disadvantage of delaying the justice. Practice of arbitration tend to resolve the dispute in more convenient manner resulting in smooth and speedy resolution of the dispute maintaining the confidentiality. On the international level CAS is an alternative and in India ICAS is the forum to resolved sports related disputes by the way of arbitration. These specialised forums have an edge compared to traditional dispute resolution practices in normal court.

The foremost advantage is that the arbitrators appointed would possess an expertise in the sports law which would provide a better understanding and a better outcome related to the dispute. Apart from this, confidentiality and privacy of the parties are highly maintained throughout the process of the arbitration by the parties and the officials appointed on an international level CSS appoints eminent jurists within the international sports community providing the best possible arbitrator to adjudicate the matter. Arbitration itself is a steady process with a set time frame in which the matter is to be resolved.

Sports has significant impact on the culture and both of them goes hand in hand. There are various teams from various geographical dwellings having distinct culture which is united by the sports but due to this distinct culture dispute may arise. To resolve such a dispute the cross-cultural difference must be kept in mind to give equal importance resolve such disputes.

CONCLUSION
In India sport has a rich cultural history. It always been there, but sports law is a relatively new field that is why it faces several issues during the dispute resolution process. The normal practice of delivering the justice is a long and complex procedure where technicalities and nuances are not properly entertained as they can we in the process of arbitration. by invocation of arbitration, privacy as well as speedy trial can be achieved to bring justice to the aggrieved party making the justice more convenient and significant thereby promoting the welfare of the sports.

India is a nation where sports law is extremely lagging, and steps are obliged to be taken in admiration of such disputes so that both athletes and also Sports Federations and other auxiliary bodies joined with sports in India can push ahead towards understanding their games related objectives as opposed to contemplate over how to settle scores against or with one another.

Author: Navya Sharma – a third year law student at CLS-GIBS, in case of any queries please contact/write back to us via email vidushi@khuranaandkhurana.com or contact us at Khurana & Khurana, Advocates and IP Attorney.