Guwahati: The National Workshop on Sports Law and Management organised at Gauhati University (GU) on Saturday stressed the importance of teaching sports law in universities, law societies and to other stakeholders.

Prof. Hayden Opie AM from the University of Melbourne, in his keynote address said, "Universities and law societies should offer education in sports law as sport is an important and growing segment of society, sport can test the limits of legal principle and as it provides the pedagogical merit of the learners."

The workshop was jointly organised by Gauhati University and Nilima Studio under the sponsorship of Bar Council of India.

"In-house counsel in sports organisations, both lawyers and investigation officers, sponsors and advertisers, media organisations, university lecturers in both law and sports management or physical education are the stakeholders who must be given the education on sports law first, then only can it be thought for the delivery of sports law education by government through policy development on anti-doping laws, introducing course in sports management and physical education under LLB and LLM, conferences and continuing education programmes by universities, introducing player agent accreditation scheme," Prof. Hayden added.

Gauhati University, through the platform of this national workshop, has decided along with the Nilima studio and Bar council of India to introduce a course in sports law in the form of post-graduate diploma and certificate course in sports law from the next academic session.

"Along with the rise in events and sport activities all over the world, there comes the issue of its regulation, competition, business, doping, etc. And this regulation will come unless there is a law, a systematic approach, which is discussed in sports courses provided in universities. There is a huge interest among the youth in matters of sports from domestic to international cricket, badminton, football, boxing and the like. The courses in sports law are already there in other parts of the country. We also felt its necessity here. The workshop has provided a platform to decide on the introduction of sport law courses from the next academic session," Mridul Hazarika, the vice-chancellor of the university, said.

Justice Ujjal Bhuyan in one of the sessions of the workshop spoke on the governance matter in sports. He said sports should be included into concurrent list.

Bhuyan said, "Courts need to intervene in the disputes of various forms in sports that deals with commercial issues, advertising, telecasting, age and gender dispute, corruption like matchfixing, despite resolving through internal dispute resolution to make the governance of sports law firm keeping in mind the contractual and ethical obligations in sports."

Anshu Jamsenpa, the only Indian woman to scale Mt Everest five times, was felicitated by Apurba Kumar Sharma, chairman of the executive committee of Bar Council of India.

Various dignitaries like Justice Ajay Prakash Mishra of Supreme Court, Justice Arup Kumar Goswami of Gauhati High Court, Amitabh Chaudhary and Anirudh Chaudhary of BCCI, and many other also spoke in the workshop.