The National Sports Governance Act, 2025 (“the Act”) constitutes arguably the boldest statutory initiative in sports governance in India since Independence. Hailed as a historic moment, the Act replaces the National Sports Development Code, 2011, a previously non-binding framework, with a legally enforceable statute. It aims to bring in statutory powers, reform associations, increase transparency, and establish new dispute resolution mechanisms. However, underneath this reformative narrative exists an underlying tension between democratisation and centralisation, athlete empowerment and bureaucratic type-control, and autonomy and accountability.