New Delhi, Oct 23 Olympic medallists PV Sindhu and Mirabai Chanu are among 12 sportspersons in the fray to become members of Athletes Commission of the India Olympic Association’s (IOA) .
The elections to choose 10 members of the Athletes Commission — five male and five female — for the 2026-2030 term will be held on November 3.
Other sportspersons in the fray are men’s and women’s hockey captains Harmanpreet Singh and Salima Tete, shooter Swapnil Kushare, fencer Bhavani Devi, Sudha Singh and Tajinderpal Singh from athletics, former archer Bombayla Devi, shuttler Kidambi Srikanth, swimmer Sajan Prakash and Manjeet Singh from Kayaking and Canoeing.
Sindhu, Chanu and Bhavani are also members of the outgoing Athletes Commission headed by celebrated boxer MC Mary Kom.
On October 16, Returning Officer Sanjay K Srivastava had issued a list of 34 electoral college members — two each from 17 National Sports Federations for the Athletes Commission elections.
There was no representative from All India Football Federation (AIFF), All India Tennis Association (AITA), Boxing Federation of India (BFI) and Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI).
According to Article 10.3 of the Athletes Commission Rules of the IOA ratified in September: “Only those NSF Members which have established an Athletes Commission shall be allowed to appoint their athletes’ representatives through their respective Athletes Commissions.”
The AIFF, AITA do not have their elected Athletes Commissions while BFI is not recognised by both the IOA and the sports ministry.
The 10 members of the Athletes Commission will be elected from amongst the 34 electoral college members.
“Members of the (IOA) Athletes Commission shall be elected by, and from amongst, a pool of eligible athlete representatives which shall constitute the electoral college for such election, constituted in accordance with this Rule,” reads Article 10.1 of the IOA Athletes Commission Rules.
Two members — one male and one female — of the Athletes Commission shall be made members of the IOA Executive Council.
Six members of the Athletes Commission — three male and three female — should have, at the time of election, participated in at least one of the last three editions of the Olympic Games.
The remaining four elected members — two male and two female — should have, at the time of their election, won at least one medal in any of the last three editions of the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championship/Cup or the National Games.
Roster for Nov 9 election of eight SOMs
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The returning officer will publish the final list of 80 SOMs — 40 male and 40 female Friday night. The eight SOMs will take part in the IOA executive council election to be held on December 5.
The final list of 80 may see some changes, though.
The election of SOMs could play an important role in the IOA polls, especially in the contest for the president’s post. Incumbent IOA president P T Usha had contested the elections in 2022 as one of the SOMs.
Eligible candidates can file their nominations from October 27 to 30. The final list of eligible candidates will be published on November 5, and the elections will be held on November 9.
(PTI News)
