Kerala readies a Keralam Sports Bill with a sports tribunal and fines of ₹5 lakh to ₹25 lakh

11 October 2026

The Kerala government plans to bring the Keralam Sports Bill, 2026, to overhaul the way sports are governed in the State. The draft is under final review by the Law Department and would set up a sports tribunal headed by a retired High Court judge. Match-fixing, doping, discrimination in selections, exploitation at training camps and irregular appointments to sports quota posts would attract fines of ₹5 lakh to ₹25 lakh. The draft proposes merging the Directorate of Sports and the Kerala Sports Council into a single Sports Authority of Kerala, run by government nominees with no elections to its governing body. Kerala Kaumudi reported that the authority would be chaired by Sports Minister O J Janeesh and that district sports councils would also be abolished. An online platform would issue and verify sports merit certificates and process scholarship applications.