CHENNAI: The Indian Olympic Association Athletes Commission chairperson, vice chairperson and other two members who would represent them at the general assembly have apparently been decided. It is learnt that double Olympic medallists PV Sindhu and Harmanpreet Singh (India hockey captain) are the two who could be the chairperson and vice-chairperson, while the two representatives in the general assembly during the upcoming election on December 5 too have been finalised. There were only four nominations on Thursday (last day of filing) for four posts, which means there might not be an election here as well.
The latest developments seem to rest speculations regarding who would be chairperson and vice-chairperson. The two assume importance because they would represent the athletes in the Executive Committee of the IOA and would be part of the final 15 for the next four years. They will not need to be elected like the SOMs, who would want to be part of the EC. Two members who are expected to be part of the general assembly are Tokyo Olympic Games silver medallist Mirabai Chanu and Sajan Prakash (swimming). They will have the right to vote in the IOA election and it needs to be seen if they would contest elections. It would be interesting to see how many times the chairperson and vice chairperson attend the meetings. In the last four years, outgoing chairperson Mary Kom hardly attended any meeting while Sharath Kamal, vice chairperson, managed to attend a few.
SOMs final nomination list out
There are 23 names have been shortlisted for the final nomination list of the Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit. Four names were not considered because of technical reasons. Out of the 23, 12 names are in male, while 11 are female. One name in the female category was not complete as it did not have a proposer’s name. The three names that could not find place in male team are former India hockey team captain Sardar Singh, athlete Om Prakash Singh Karhana and shuttler Sumeeth Reddy. Apparently, one of the athletes used an old application.
The SOM election seems to be heading to a dramatic finish with some big names in sports including current IOA president PT Usha, Olympic medalists Gagan Narang, Yogeshwar Dutt, Vijender Singh, world championships medallist Anju Bobby George, former Athletics Federation of India president Adille Sumariwalla and former India women’s hockey captain Rani Rampal in the mix. There are 80 SOMs who will vote and going by the number of nominations there could be elections. It is understood that wherever there were discrepancies, names that were sent first were considered.
