The Indian government has come out with a fresh list of sporting events of national importance that would have to be shared with national broadcaster Prasar Bharati in case the media rights for the India region was held by a private broadcaster.

The new list, made public by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) on Tuesday, brings within the mandatory sharing rules, amongst other tournaments, bilateral Test cricket series featuring both the national men’s and women’s teams.

“In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (s) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act, 2007 (11 of 2007)…the Central Government hereby notifies following events as sporting events of national importance…,” the advisory stated.

The list includes all Olympics Games, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games. However, IPL cricket has still been kept out of the ambit of the mandatory sharing rules, though there have been demands from certain quarters that Doordarshan should air some of the IPL matches too.

In the cricket category, the list includes all official one-day, Twenty-20, Test matches played by the Indian Men’s and Women’s teams and all International Cricket Council (ICC) Test matches featuring India.

Apart from these, also included are the semi-finals and finals of  the ICC men’s and women’s One-Day International World Cups; semi-finals and finals of ICC Men’s and Women’s Twenty-20 World Cups; all semi-finals and finals of ICC Champions Trophy (One Day); all semi-finals and finals of the ICC World Test Championship; semi-finals and finals of International Men’s and Women’s Asia Cup (Twenty -20 and One-Day International) and India playing matches, semi-finals and finals of Under-19 World Cup.

The new list of sports of national importance also includes the following:

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 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.

(c)  Indira Gandhi Gold Cup for Women-semi-finals and finals.

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

(e)  Hockey Men’s Junior Men World Cup (only when India is the host).

(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, quarter finals, semi-finals and finals.

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

(c) Santosh Trophy – semi-finals and finals.

(d) Asian Women’s Football Cup (only when India’s the host).

(e) Under-17 Federation Internationale de Football Association Women’s World Cup (only when India’s the host).

(f) World Cup (Under – 17) – Opening match, quarter finals, semi-finals and finals.

Badminton 

(a)  All England Open Badminton Championship – All matches featuring Indian players, semi-finals and finals.

(b)  Badminton World Federation World Cup Championship – All matches featuring Indian players, semi-finals and finals.

Kabaddi

World Cup – All matches featuring India, semi-finals and finals.

Khelo India Games

(a)  Khelo India Games.

(b)  Khelo India School Games.

(c)  Khelo India Youth Games.

(d)  Khelo India University Games.

(e)  Khelo India Games for differently abled persons.

(f)  Khelo India Games for Indigenous Sports.

(g)  Khelo India Winter Games.

Other Events

(a)  International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup Event (when India’s the host).

(b)  Commonwealth Shooting Championship (when India’s the host).

(c)  Commonwealth Archery Championship (when India’s the host).

(d)  International events organized by National Sports Federations recognized by the Government of India.

 (Photo of men’s cricket match courtesy BCCI website)