IOA publishes 34-member electoral roll for Athletes Commission election on November 3, 2026
The Indian Olympic Association on Friday (October 16, 2026) released a 34-member electoral roll in New Delhi for the IOA Athletes Commission polls scheduled for November 3, 2026, with the list issued by electoral officer Sanjay K. Srivastava. The names include Asian Games gold-medallist trap shooter Neeru Dhanda, badminton player P.V. Sindhu, weightlifter Mirabai Chanu and India men’s hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh.
The electoral roll comprises two athlete representatives from each of 17 national sports federations. There are no appointees from the All India Football Federation (AIFF), All India Tennis Association (AITA), Boxing Federation of India (BFI) or Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI). Sindhu and Mirabai were members of the outgoing IOA Athletes Commission, while current commission chairperson Mary Kom and vice-chairperson Achanta Sharath Kamal were not nominated and therefore will not serve in the 2026-2030 term.
The IOA Athletes Commission Rules govern how NSF representatives are chosen, including Article 10.3 which states: "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 does not have an elected Athletes Commission, and the BFI is not recognised by the IOA and the sports ministry, the IOA noted.
Individual appointments named on the roll include Dhanda and Swapnil Kushare; Mirabai Chanu and Aman Sehrawat were selected by the Indian Weightlifting Federation and the Wrestling Federation of India respectively. Hockey India nominated Harmanpreet Singh and women’s captain Salima Tete; K. Srikanth and P.V. Sindhu were the Badminton Association of India’s representatives, Bhavani Devi was named by the Fencing Association of India, and the Athletics Federation of India put forward Sudha Singh and Tajinderpal Singh Toor.
Ten members — five male and five female — will be elected from the 34-member electoral college to serve on the IOA Athletes Commission for the 2026-2030 term, and anyone seeking to contest must file nomination papers before 5pm on October 21. "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, and Article 10.4 requires: "Any eligible athlete representative from among this pool seeking election as a member of the [IOA] Athletes Commission shall submit an application through the concerned NSF Member in the format prescribed by the Electoral Officer."
Prospective candidates must be Indian citizens, at least 18 years old on the date of nomination, and must not have been sanctioned for violations under the World Anti-Doping Code, the National Anti-Doping Act, 2022 or any applicable integrity regulation; they also must never have been sanctioned for breach of the IOA Constitution, its bye‑laws, rules and regulations. Trap shooter Rajeshwari Kumari, elected to the Olympic Council of Asia's Athletes' Commission during the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, will be an ex-officio member of the IOA Athletes' Commission with voting rights.
Of the 10 elected members, six — three male and three female — must, at the time of election, have participated in at least one of the last three editions of the Olympic Games; the remaining four — two male and two female — must, at the time of their election, have 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. Two members of the IOA Athletes Commission, one male and one female, will be made members of the Executive Council, and the Athletes' Commission will select eight Sportspersons of Merit (four male and four female) to join the General House that elects the new Executive Council; from those eight SOMs two — one male and one female — shall be elected to the IOA Executive Council.
