SAI empowers NSFs, gives them major say in picking foreign coaches

Sports Authority of India (SAI) has abolished the process of screening of candidates through a comprehensive committee and introduced a bipartite contract system. As per the revised guidelines on hiring foreign coaches/experts, the NSFs can't spend more than 30 percent of their Annual Calendar of Training and Competition (ACTC) budget on the salary of recruits. The foreign coach will also have to train at least five Indian coaches, according to the fresh guidelines, a copy of which is with the PTI.

The clause to groom Indian coaches was there in the previous guidelines, too, but a specific number has been added now. From now on, it will be a bipartite contract between the NSF and the coach with the SAI ending the tripartite contract system, where the selected coach, the nodal sports body and the federation were required to sign on the dotted line. The SAI has already told the federations to convert the existing tripartite contracts into a bipartite arrangement by June 30.

Earlier, the proposal prepared by the NSF to hire a foreign coach was evaluated by a committee that included the joint secretary (sports), a member of the sports ministry who was an expert in finance, two sport-specific experts and a representative of the federation concerned. But as per the new guidelines, the sports federation will constitute a selection committee which will have just one SAI member, who will ensure that due diligence is exercised while selecting a candidate. "We had ease of business in mind when we thought of this step.