MIB broadens the list of sports events of national importance

Mumbai: The Ministry of Information And Broadcasting (MIB) has under the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act, 2007, broadened the list of sports events of national importance, according to a recent notification. These events will now be shared with Prasar Bharati as the broadcast rights holder.

In terms of cricket, the good news for the Board Of Control For Cricket in India (BCCI) is that there is no mention of the Indian Premier League (IPL) whose media rights will be decided in an e-auction next month. All sports leagues have been kept out of the list. Under the sports act, all test matches played by India are covered. Earlier, only test matches deemed of high interest were covered.

ODIs and Twenty20 matches played by India were already covered. Also, among other new things that have now come under the Act the semi-finals and finals of the International Cricket Council (ICC) World Test Championship will have to be shared. India playing matches, Semi-finals and finals of the Under-19 World Cup will now have to be shared. All Olympic Games including the Winter Olympics are now covered under the Act. The Commonwealth Games and Asian Games continue to be covered under the Act.

These are all the events that will have to be shared with Prasar Bharati. Some were already covered under previous notifications. Some events in football, shooting and archery are deemed of national importance only if India is hosting those events. Following are the lists:

Cricket

(a) All official One-Day, Twenty-20 and Test matches played by the Indian Men’s and Women’s Cricket Team and all ICC Test matches featuring India

(b) Semi-finals and finals of ICC Men’s and Women’s One-Day International World Cup

(d) All Semi-finals and finals of ICC Champions Trophy (One Day)

(e) All Semi-finals and finals of ICC World Test Championship

(f) Semi-finals and finals of ICC Men’s and Women’s Asia Cup (Twenty -20 and One-Day International)

(g) India playing matches, Semi-finals and finals of Under-19 World Cup.

Tennis

(a) Davis Cup-All matches featuring India

(b) Grand Slam Tournaments - Finals of Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles and all matches featuring Indian players from quarter-finals onwards

(c) Grand Slam Tournaments - All such matches featuring Indian players in men’s doubles, Women’s doubles or Mixed doubles from quarter-finals onwards.

Hockey

(a) World Cup – All matches featuring India and semi-finals and finals

(b) Champions Trophy – All matches featuring India and finals

(d) Hockey India Sub-Junior National Championship and Hockey India Academy National Championship

(e) Hockey Men’s Junior Men World Cup*

(f) Sultan Azlan Shah Cup- All matches featuring India, Semi-finals and finals;

(g) International Hockey Federation (FIH) - Hockey Pro League matches.

Football

(a) World Cup – Opening match, quarterfinals, semi-finals and finals

(b) Asia Cup – All matches featuring India and semi-finals and finals

(d) Asian Women’s Football Cup*

(e) Under-17 Federation Internationale de Football Association Women’s World Cup*