The IOA elections enter a key stage as 80 Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit form the pool for eight voting members and two Executive Council seats
New Delhi: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has published a roster of 80 Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit (SOMs), including 40 men and 40 women, as it prepares for its December 5, 2026, elections. An SOM is a sportsperson who qualifies for a special place in the association’s governance under its election rules.
The Athletes’ Commission will select eight people from this roster, giving them voting rights in the General Assembly, the body that elects the IOA’s Executive Council. Two of those eight will also fill athlete-representation seats on the council, making this selection an important step in deciding who helps govern Indian sport.
The IOA election process begins
On October 10, 2026, the IOA announced that it would elect a new Executive Council on December 5, five days before the current committee’s term ends on December 10. The association has already published the SOM roster, following the application and scrutiny stages.
The process began on September 18, when the IOA published the SOM application form. Applicants had to submit their forms and supporting documents by October 18, although subsequent reporting mentioned an extension for certain additional documents.
The elections operate under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025, the National Sports Governance (National Sports Bodies) Rules, 2026, the amended IOA Constitution and the association’s election bye-laws. These documents set out the procedures for selecting athlete representatives and electing the governing council.
Who is running the election?
The IOA appointed Sanjay Kumar Srivastava, IAS (Retd.), as Returning Officer. He previously served as an Election Commissioner for Delhi and Chandigarh.
A Returning Officer oversees the election process, including the relevant applications, scrutiny and procedural steps. Srivastava is responsible for the Athletes’ Commission, SOM and Executive Council elections.
The IOA has published the election notices, rules, constitution and roster through its official 2026 elections page.
P.T. Usha, who took charge on December 10, 2022, remains the IOA president during this election cycle. She became the first woman to lead the association.
What is a Sportsperson of Outstanding Merit?
The SOM category provides a formal route for accomplished sportspersons to participate in sports governance. Instead of limiting representation to officials from national sports federations and affiliated organisations, the system gives eligible athletes a role in the association’s decision-making structure.
The National Sports Governance Act, 2025, and the 2026 rules provide for SOM representation in national sports bodies. The IOA’s election framework uses a two-stage process: the association publishes a larger pool of eligible names, and the Athletes’ Commission subsequently selects eight SOMs.
The term electoral college means the group of eligible voters who elect office-bearers. In this case, the selected SOMs join the General Assembly and gain voting rights under the applicable rules. Their inclusion therefore gives athlete representatives a direct role in the election of the association’s leadership.
The roster: 40 men, 40 women
As per reported by sources on October 20 that the IOA had finalised the 80-name roster, which the association published on its official website. The list contains 40 men and 40 women, with 10 reserve names in each category, according to the report.
Reserves are additional names who may be considered under the applicable rules if a place becomes available. The published roster is not the final list of eight SOMs. The Athletes’ Commission will make that selection separately after its own election.
They also reported that some applicants could submit additional documents by 8 pm on October 21 following an extension linked to the Dussehra holiday. Readers should check the IOA’s official notices for the applicable deadlines and any subsequent updates.
Big names on the list
The roster features prominent figures from Indian sport, including current IOA president P.T. Usha, Olympic shooting champion Abhinav Bindra, Olympic medallist Gagan Narang, wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, boxer Vijender Singh, badminton player Saina Nehwal, long jumper Anju Bobby George, sports administrator Adille Sumariwalla, archer Dola Banerjee and hockey player Rani Rampal.
The Source identified Usha, Bindra and Narang among the prominent names on the roster. Their inclusion does not automatically give them voting rights as SOMs in the forthcoming General Assembly. The Athletes’ Commission must first select the final eight from the published pool. Nor does the roster establish that any named person will contest a particular Executive Council post.
Which sports dominate, and which are missing?
Athletics has the largest representation on the roster, according to the source. The newspaper reported approximately 13 male athletes and 13–14 female athletes from the sport.
Shooting has three male names: Abhinav Bindra, Gagan Narang and national coach Samaresh Jung. Suma Shirur represents shooting among the women on the reported list.
This distribution shows that the roster covers several sports but gives athletics a particularly strong presence. However, the number of names alone does not establish how much influence any sport will have in the final election. The selection of eight people, including four men and four women, will determine the final SOM representation.
The published figures also do not, by themselves, establish that a particular sport has no representation. Readers should consult the complete official IOA roster and election documents before drawing conclusions about individual sports.
How eight SOMs get picked, and what they can do
The Athletes’ Commission election will take place on November 3. After that election, the commission will select eight SOMs: four men and four women, according to the process reported by the New Indian Express and PTI.
Those eight will join the General Assembly, which votes to elect the Executive Council. Their voting rights give them a formal role in choosing the association’s leadership. The 80-name roster therefore acts as the pool for this later selection, rather than as a list of 80 voting members.
Reports differ on whether the SOM selection will take place on November 5 or November 9. The IOA’s official election notices should take precedence when confirming the final date.
The two Executive Council seats
Two of the eight selected SOMs—one man and one woman—will take seats on the Executive Council, according to the reported election arrangement. This gives the SOM category a direct route into the association’s governing body.
The National Sports Governance Act, 2025, provides for at least two SOMs on a national sports body’s executive committee. The Act generally caps such committees at 15 members. A September 2026 government notification also addressed the IOA’s need to accommodate International Olympic Committee members under the Olympic Charter while retaining its 15-member Executive Council.
The SOM seats form part of the governance structure; they do not mean that all eight selected athletes will automatically become council members. The other six will have their role as SOM representatives in the General Assembly under the applicable rules.
The doping-declaration question
The SOM application declaration raises a separate question about how the rules treat past anti-doping cases. According to the report supplied for this explainer, applicants must declare that anti-doping authorities have not declared them ineligible, suspended or disqualified under applicable World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) or National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) rules.
The reported Athletes’ Commission rules use stricter wording, referring to athletes who have “never sanctioned.” The distinction raises a question about whether the SOM rules address past sanctions in the same way.
Gymnast Dipa Karmakar served a 21-month suspension following a case involving higenamine, which ended in July 2023. Her case provides context for the broader question of how sports bodies frame anti-doping declarations; it does not establish that she appears on the SOM roster or determine her eligibility under the SOM rules. The reported uncertainty concerns the wording and interpretation of the rules, not a finding against any applicant.
Key dates at a glance
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
| SOM application form published | September 18, 2026 |
| Application deadline | October 18, 2026 |
| Deadline for certain additional documents | October 21, 2026, at 8 PM |
| Athletes’ Commission election | November 3, 2026 |
| SOM selection | November 5 or November 9, 2026 (reports differ) |
| Executive Council election | December 5, 2026 |
| Current Executive Council term ends | December 10, 2026 |
Sources: Check olympic.ind.in for official notices and the confirmed SOM selection date.
How it worked last time, in 2022
The 2022 election provides a precedent for the SOM process. The report on the election and the IOA’s published election records identify P.T. Usha as one of the eight SOMs selected by the Athletes’ Commission.
Yogeshwar Dutt and Dola Banerjee took the male and female SOM seats on the Executive Council. Usha then won the IOA presidency unopposed on December 10, 2022, becoming the first woman to lead the association.
The 2022 outcome shows how an SOM can progress from athlete representation to a senior governance role, although it does not predict the result of the 2026 election.
The next major step is the Athletes’ Commission election on November 3. The subsequent SOM selection will determine which eight names from the 80-person pool gain voting rights ahead of the December 5 Executive Council election.
