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PV Sindhu, Mirabai Chanu Among 10 Elected Unopposed to IOA Athletes’ Commission

Posted on 4th Nov 2026 12:51 pm by rohit kumar

Olympic medallists PV Sindhu and Mirabai Chanu are among 10 athletes elected unopposed to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Athletes’ Commission for the 2026–2030 term. The Returning Officer, Sanjay K. Srivastava, announced the results on November 3 after two candidates withdrew their nominations, making the scheduled voting unnecessary.

 

The newly constituted commission has five male and five female members. With exactly 10 candidates remaining for the 10 available positions, there was no requirement to conduct the election originally scheduled for November 3.

 

Former athlete Sudha Singh withdrew her candidature late on November 2, while badminton player Kidambi Srikanth had also withdrawn earlier that day. The remaining candidates were consequently declared elected unopposed.

 

Full List of 10 IOA Athletes’ Commission Members

 

The new commission includes athletes from badminton, weightlifting, hockey, shooting, fencing, athletics, archery, swimming and kayaking and canoeing.

 

The 10 elected members are:

 

Male members

 

Harmanpreet Singh – Hockey

 

Sajan Prakash – Swimming

 

Tajinderpal Singh Toor – Athletics

 

Swapnil Kusale – Shooting

 

Manjeet Singh – Kayaking and canoeing

 

Female members

 

PV Sindhu – Badminton

 

Mirabai Chanu – Weightlifting

 

Bombayla Devi – Archery

 

Salima Tete – Hockey

 

Bhavani Devi – Fencing

 

The members will serve a four-year term from 2026 to 2030. Sindhu, Chanu and Bhavani Devi were also part of the previous Athletes’ Commission, which was headed by former boxer MC Mary Kom.

 

IOA Rules: Six Olympians and Four Medal Winners Required

 

The IOA's election regulations provide for a 10-member Athletes’ Commission with equal representation for men and women.

 

Six positions are reserved for athletes who have participated in at least one of the previous three Olympic Games. This category includes three men and three women.

 

The remaining four positions are reserved for athletes who have won at least one medal at the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, World Championships or World Cups, or National Games during the relevant previous editions. This category includes two men and two women.

 

Olympic participation category

 

Men:

 

Harmanpreet Singh

 

Sajan Prakash

 

Tajinderpal Singh Toor

 

Women:

 

PV Sindhu

 

Mirabai Chanu

 

Bombayla Devi

 

Medallist category

 

Men:

 

Swapnil Kusale

 

Manjeet Singh

 

Women:

 

Salima Tete

 

Bhavani Devi

 

This structure ensures that the commission includes both athletes with Olympic experience and medal winners from other major competitions.

 

Why Was the IOA Athletes’ Commission Election Cancelled?

 

The IOA had initially planned to conduct voting for the 10 Athletes’ Commission positions on November 3. On October 16, Returning Officer Sanjay K. Srivastava had released a list of 34 voters representing 17 National Sports Federations.

 

However, the candidate list changed after Kidambi Srikanth and Sudha Singh withdrew their nominations on November 2.

 

With only 10 candidates left for the 10 available positions, and one candidate for each position in the respective categories, the Returning Officer declared all 10 elected unopposed.

 

As a result, the 34-member electoral college did not need to vote for the commission's membership.

 

Shiva Keshavan and Rajeshwari Kumari to Be Ex-Officio Members

 

Apart from the 10 elected members, two Indian representatives serving on the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) Athletes’ Commission will join the IOA panel as ex-officio members.

 

They are Shiva Keshavan, Vice-Chair of the OCA Athletes’ Commission, and Rajeshwari Kumari, who was recently appointed to the OCA commission.

 

Both will also have voting rights in the upcoming elections for the IOA Athletes’ Commission leadership and its representatives to the IOA General Body. However, they will not be eligible to contest those positions.

 

IOA Athletes’ Commission Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson Election on November 7

 

With the 10-member commission finalised, the next stage will be the election of its Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson. The two positions must be held by one male and one female member.

 

The election schedule is as follows:

 

November 4 and 5: Candidates can file their nominations.

 

November 6: Final list of candidates will be published.

 

November 7: Voting will be conducted virtually.

 

The Chairperson must be selected from the six-member Olympic participation category. The leadership positions also carry an age requirement of at least 25 years.

 

A total of 12 members will vote in the leadership and General Body representative elections. The voters will include the 10 elected Athletes’ Commission members and the two ex-officio OCA representatives.

 

Why Salima Tete Cannot Contest for IOA Commission Leadership

 

Indian women's hockey captain Salima Tete, who is 24 years old, is not eligible to contest for the Chairperson or Vice-Chairperson positions because the minimum age requirement for these posts is 25.

 

However, she can contest for one of the two Athletes’ Commission representative positions in the IOA General Body, for which the minimum age requirement is 18.

 

The election rules also state that a commission member can contest in only one of the two election categories: the Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson posts or the two General Body representative positions.

 

IOA Athletes’ Commission Leaders to Join Executive Council

 

The Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of the Athletes’ Commission will also become members of the IOA Executive Council.

 

In addition, two commission members—one male and one female—will be elected as representatives to the IOA General Body, with voting rights.

 

These two representatives will participate in the IOA Executive Council elections scheduled for December 5.

 

The upcoming November 7 virtual election will therefore determine key athlete representatives in the IOA's governance structure, following the unopposed formation of the new Athletes’ Commission.

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