India, Sept. 23 -- On September 19, the Supreme Court not only gave Indian football a new lease of life but also set a wider jurisprudential marker on the role of sports in nation-building. For perhaps the first time, the top court placed sports within the framework of India's Constitution -- as material resources of the community, as institutions of national life, and as vital arenas for nurturing fraternity.

The ruling, delivered by a bench of justices PS Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi, went beyond technical questions of football governance to emphasise that sports are not mere pastimes but instruments of unity, equity and dignity.

By finalising the constitution of the All India Football Federation (AIFF), the court hoped to end decade...