{"id":55642,"date":"2025-09-30T20:57:36","date_gmt":"2025-09-30T15:27:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=55642"},"modified":"2025-10-01T12:27:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T06:57:04","slug":"sports-unifying-force-supreme-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/30-09-2025\/sports-unifying-force-supreme-court","title":{"rendered":"Sports as a Unifying Force, Not a Privilege: Supreme Court"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/ Inclusive Development<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Supreme Court, in the <strong>All India Football Federation (AIFF)<\/strong> case, recently emphasised that sports are not merely recreational activities but vital institutions of \u201cnational life.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Observations by Supreme Court of India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Fraternity Through Sport: <\/strong>Team sports compel individuals to set aside caste, class, gender, or linguistic distinctions and work collectively towards shared goals.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sports as Community Resources: <\/strong>Sporting facilities and opportunities should be recognised as <strong>\u2018material resources\u2019<\/strong> of the community, essential for fostering social cohesion.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Avoiding Elitism:<\/strong> Sporting infrastructure must not remain in the exclusive hands of the <strong>urban economic elite;<\/strong> revenues from sporting events and media rights should promote inclusivity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Institutions of National Life:<\/strong> Sporting bodies are<strong> institutions of national life, <\/strong>deserving of integrity, professionalism, and regulation in the public interest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Issues in India\u2019s Sports Ecosystem<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Rural-Urban Divide: <\/strong>According to NITI Aayog, rural athletes often lack access to basic training facilities, qualified coaches, competitive platforms, and nutritional and psychological support.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Urban centers, on the other hand, benefit from private investment, media attention, and proximity to national federations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Infrastructure and Policy Gaps:<\/strong><strong>Over 3.4 lakh<\/strong> schools in India lack playgrounds, despite legal mandates under the <strong>Right to Education Act.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It limits early exposure to sports and physical activity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lack of Sporting Culture:<\/strong> There\u2019s limited integration of sports into school curricula, despite the National Education Policy 2020 advocating for it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Gender and Social Inclusion:<\/strong> Women, differently-abled athletes, and marginalized communities face additional barriers to participation and recognition.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Inclusive policies exist but require stronger enforcement and cultural shifts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Schemes and Programmes to Support Sports in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Khelo India:<\/strong> Launched in <strong>2016-17<\/strong> by the <strong>Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports,<\/strong> the Khelo India programme aims to revive the sports culture in India at the grassroot level by building a strong framework for all sports played in our country.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Retired Sportsperson Empowerment Training (RESET) Programme,<\/strong> launched in 2024, empowers retired athletes to reinvent themselves.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay National Welfare Fund<\/strong> for Sportspersons offers one-time ex-gratia aid of up to<strong> \u20b95 lakh<\/strong>, a monthly pension of <strong>\u20b95,000<\/strong>, medical assistance up to \u20b910 lakh, and support up to \u20b910 lakh for injuries sustained during training or competitions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/24-04-2025\/news-in-short-24-04-2025\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/24-04-2025\/news-in-short-24-04-2025\">National Sports Development Fund (NSDF)<\/a>: <\/strong>These funds supplement public investment and are used to develop infrastructure, support high-potential athletes, and fund innovative programmes, creating a collaborative model for sports development.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"6c3588\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"496\" height=\"403\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Sports-as-a-Unifying-Force-Not-a-Privilege-Supreme-Court.webp\" alt=\"sports in India\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-55644\" style=\"--dominant-color: #6c3588; width:436px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Sports-as-a-Unifying-Force-Not-a-Privilege-Supreme-Court.webp 496w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Sports-as-a-Unifying-Force-Not-a-Privilege-Supreme-Court-300x244.webp 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 496px) 100vw, 496px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Grassroots Investment: <\/strong>Expand playgrounds in schools and strengthen rural sports infrastructure to democratise opportunities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Public\u2013Private Collaboration:<\/strong> Encourage private sector partnerships to supplement state investment in infrastructure and training.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Cultural Shift:<\/strong> Promote sports as a way of life, not just a path to medals, by integrating physical education systematically into schools and communities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Concluding remarks<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Supreme Court\u2019s philosophy provides a vital bridge between constitutional values of fraternity and equality and their realisation through practical institutions like sports.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>By ensuring that opportunities are open to all irrespective of caste, class, gender, or economic background, the Court highlighted how the unifying power of sports is amplified, <strong>transforming it from a privilege of the few<\/strong> into a shared national resource for cohesion and collective progress.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/sports-is-a-powerful-unifying-force-facilities-and-opportunities-must-be-declared-material-resources-of-community-supreme-c\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Context<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The Supreme Court, in the All India Football Federation (AIFF) case, recently emphasised that sports are not merely recreational activities but vital institutions of \u201cnational life.\u201d<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>Key Observations by Supreme Court of India<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Fraternity Through Sport: Team sports compel individuals to set aside caste, class, gender, or linguistic distinctions and work collectively towards shared goals.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Sports as Community Resources: Sporting facilities and opportunities should be recognised as \u2018material resources\u2019 of the community, essential for fostering social cohesion.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Avoiding Elitism: Sporting infrastructure must not remain in the exclusive hands of the urban economic elite; revenues from sporting events and media rights should promote inclusivity.<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Institutions of National Life: Sporting bodies are institutions of national life, deserving of integrity, professionalism, and regulation in the public interest.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/30-09-2025\/sports-unifying-force-supreme-court\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":55681,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/09\/sports-unifying-force-supreme-court.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55642"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55642\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55671,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55642\/revisions\/55671"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}