Akhand Bharatiya Empire, Imperial capital Bengaluru, Simhasana Bhawana
Half a year ago, when the finals of the Aikyotsava events took place, Vijay had decided to make a few changes in the sports sector so that sports in the empire could grow in an all-round way.
However, he wasn't able to do it immediately since right after the integration, he had to deal with the disaster of too many migrants pouring into the southern part of the empire. Also, right after that, he had to deal with the civil war in the Safavid Empire, constantly oversee the construction of the navy, and finally deal with the Jewish and Romani immigrants from Europe.
He had to make sure that these two groups would behave since both these groups, although persecuted a lot in Europe, are not really harmless people. On average, a Jew is more greedy for wealth and power than an ordinary Bharatiya, hence why they excel in business, while an average Romani, although not as intense as the Jewish for wealth and power, is no less than any greedy Bharathiya in the empire.
So, in order to control these two groups, who are both capable and troublesome, Vijay had to constantly remind the Jews that if they did not follow the laws of the Bharatiya Empire, then their Jewish nation would be at stake. This successfully made the majority of them behave. Even though not all the Jews were truthful and honest people, the majority of them were very proud and protective of their own, so they respected the collective interests of the Jewish race.
Hence, when the possibility of the Jewish nation not being founded due to their mistake was presented, although reluctant, everyone behaved very well. Even if it was not for themselves, they reined in their profit-making urges for their people. Additionally, after knowing what was at stake, the Jews would self-inspect so that, because of a small group of people, the majority would not be implicated.
And for the Romani, while allocating them land along with their jobs, a condition was mentioned in the contract that if they went against the laws and regulations of the Bharatiya Empire, then the land would be taken back without hesitation and they would be sent back to Europe while permanently losing their right to enter the Bharatiya Empire.
This successfully scared a lot of them into behaving properly.
After handling all these matters, Vijay had some free time where he could do what he sought out to do half a year ago.
Vijay is currently in the conference room arranging all the documents he had prepared for the establishment of the Ministry of Sports as well as some organizations under it.
"Your Majesty, the Prime Minister and the General Manager have arrived. Should I show them in?" Ganesh asked.
Vijay nodded his head in agreement and gestured for Ganesh to bring them in.
Vinod and Baskaracharya had no clue why they were in the Royal Palace today, but since it was a summons from His Majesty, they knew that it was something important. So they did not complain much, even though they had a lot of work on their hands.
Entering the conference room, they greeted His Majesty respectfully, after which they sat down on the orders of His Majesty.
Vijay had Ganesh distribute the documents so that both of them would understand the reason they were present today. He brought out the board on which all the details were attached and started.
"As you can see within the documents in your hands, today's meeting is for the establishment of a new ministry."
"This ministry will be called the Ministry of Sports, and, as the name suggests, it will be responsible for the growth and propagation of the sports sector in the Bharatiya Empire, with its main goal being to make Bharatiya sports an international event that brings a lot of influence to the Bharatiya Empire." Vijay paused and waited for a response.
Vinod was the first one to ask a question. "Your majesty, what would be the work of the Ministry of Sports," he asked.
Vijay turned the page on the board and explained, "Well, the Ministry of Sports is responsible for policy formulation for the development of sports and physical education. It will also be responsible for managing sports events, whether national or international. It is responsible for establishing guidelines for different sports bodies and ensuring their compliance with national and international rules. As for what sports bodies are, I will explain shortly."
"It is also responsible for sports education within the Bharatiya Empire in each and every educational institute."
"It will contain a database of all the athletes of the empire in all fields, and it will be responsible for providing financial assistance, scholarships, and employment opportunities while they are active, while the Soldier and Athlete Retirement Management Bureau will be responsible for looking after them after they retire."
"The Ministry of Sports will also be responsible for representing the country in global sports meetups and working with international organizations. Basically, the ministry will handle all the diplomatic matters that come with sports."
"And finally, the Ministry of Sports will provide a legal platform for betting in sports games in order to curb illegal gambling within the empire."
Vinod quickly understood the scope of the ministry. "So, in brief, this ministry will be responsible for promoting and regularizing sports in the empire and also representing the Bharatiya Empire in the international arena. Is this right, Your Majesty?"
Vijay nodded his head.
Bascaracharya understood the role of this ministry from the previous conversation, but he suddenly noticed something amiss. "Your Majesty, there doesn't seem to be any stream of income for this ministry except from the betting platform. Will it be too little?"
Vijay shook his head. "No, that is not the only stream of income," he said, which surprised Bhaskaracharya and made Vinod curious since he did not know what His Majesty was talking about.
"Along with the 3% transaction charges on the betting platform, the ministry will also take 5% proceeds from all the private sports bodies or sports organizations in the empire. Additionally, when it comes to holding an international event, it has to be done by the Ministry of Sports and not the private sports bodies under it."
Both Vinod and Bhaskaracharya suddenly understood that they had overlooked the income from the sports bodies, but the doubt on their faces did not disappear since the income seemed to be too little, even after the addition of the income from the sports bodies.
Vijay understood that the prime minister and the general manager were looking down on these income streams just by looking at their faces alone, but he did not continue to convince them since he knew how much money could be generated by franchise-run team games. For example, the NBA generated 11.34 billion dollars in revenue in 2023, the English Premier League generated 7.5 billion, and the Indian Premier League generated one billion, not to mention rugby and kabaddi, which are bound to become famous worldwide due to the existence of the Bharatiya Empire.
And taking 5% of all these earnings would easily net the Ministry of Sports over a billion dollars for simply acting as a governing body and setting up some regulations, since the franchises do everything else on their own.
"It is true that compared to other ministries, the financial input of this ministry is very low, but both of you should remember that sports is a sector that is inseparable from the public. And it is a communal and cultural event."
"So I don't want the government to get involved in the matter of the public. Setting up boundaries for what to do and what not to do, as well as protecting the interests of the athletes, will be enough."
Vinod thought for a while and nodded. "Well, if these are the only responsibilities of this ministry, then it really does not need so much money, and since the ministry is not involved with any physical assets, its earnings could be used to provide scholarships for students who are still studying in schools."
After saying that, he looked at His Majesty with curiosity. "Your Majesty, do you have a person in mind who can take over as the Minister of Sports?"
Vijay nodded. "Yes, I do, and it is none other than Maharana Pratap from Satavahana."
"Oh! Your Majesty, is it the runner-up in wrestling?" Bhaskaracharya quickly remembered the name since he also recalled that Maharana Pratap was sponsored by Ravi Shetty, His Majesty's maternal uncle.
"Yes, that's him," Vijay said as he continued. "After he lost the finals against Balwan Singh, he used all the prize money that he had gotten from reaching the finals to sponsor a lot of sports games locally."
"He held a few private tournaments, and due to his fame, these events were quite popular in the southern part of the empire."
"In a matter of six months, he had already quadrupled his assets and also brought out nearly a dozen athletes that are skilled enough to compete in the Aikyotsava event this year."