Neeru Dhanda and P V Sindhu named in IOA’s 34-member electoral roll for Athletes Commission
Sanjay K Srivastava, the electoral officer appointed by the Indian Olympic Association, on Friday released a 34-member electoral roll for the IOA Athletes Commission polls that includes Asian Games gold medallist Neeru Dhanda, badminton star P V Sindhu, Olympic medallist Mirabai Chanu and Indian men's hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh.
The electoral college is made up of two nominees from each of 17 national sports federations (NSFs), but four bodies — the All India Football Federation (AIFF), All India Tennis Association (AITA), Boxing Federation of India (BFI) and Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) — have no representatives on the list. Sindhu and Mirabai were members of the outgoing Athletes Commission, while the new nominations mean incumbent chairperson Mary Kom and vice-chairperson Achanta Sharath Kamal will not sit on the commission for the 2026-2030 term. Under the IOA Athletes Commission Rules ratified in September, Article 10.3 requires that each participating NSF nominate two representatives — one male and one female — through its Athletes Commission, and the IOA specified: "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 either the IOA or the sports ministry, listed among reasons for the absence of nominees.
Individual nominations announced on the roll include Dhanda and Swapnil Kushare for shooting, Mirabai Chanu for weightlifting, and Aman Sehrawat for wrestling. Hockey India has named men's captain Harmanpreet Singh alongside women's captain Salima Tete, while the Badminton Association of India has nominated K Srikanth and P V Sindhu. The Fencing Association of India selected Bhavani Devi, and the Athletics Federation of India will be represented by Sudha Singh and Tajinderpal Singh Toor.
The 34 representatives in the electoral college will elect 10 members — five men and five women — to the IOA Athletes Commission for the 2026-2030 term, and athletes wishing to contest must submit nomination papers by 5 pm on October 21. The IOA quoted Article 10.1 of its Athletes Commission Rules: "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," and Article 10.4 sets the candidacy procedure: "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."
Eligibility criteria for candidates specified in the release require Indian citizenship and a minimum age of 18 on the date of nomination. The IOA statement also requires that candidates have no history of sanctions for violations of the World Anti-Doping Code, the National Anti-Doping Act, 2022, or any applicable integrity regulations, and that they must never have faced sanctions for violating the IOA Constitution, its bye-laws, or its rules and regulations.
Composition rules for the elected commission were set out in the IOA notice: at least six elected members — three men and three women — must have participated in one of the last three editions of the Olympic Games at the time of their election. The remaining four elected positions — two men and two women — are reserved for athletes who have won at least one medal at any of the last three editions of the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championship/Cup or the National Games, and two members of the Athletes Commission — one man and one woman — will be included in the IOA Executive Council.
Trap shooter Rajeshwari Kumari, elected to the Olympic Council of Asia's Athletes' Commission during the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, will join the IOA Athletes Commission as an ex-officio member with voting rights. The commission will also select eight Sportspersons of Merit (SOMs), comprising four men and four women, who will become members of the IOA General House and take part in the election of the new Executive Council; of those eight, two, one man and one woman, will subsequently be elected to the IOA Executive Council.
The next confirmed procedural milestone is the Athletes Commission election on November 3, when the 34-member electoral college will vote to fill the 10 elected positions for the 2026-2030 term.