New Delhi: Two-time Olympic-medallist shuttler PV Sindhu and Indian men's hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh were on Friday named as the chairperson and vice-chairperson respectively of the Indian Olympic Association's (IOA) Athletes' Commission, while star weightlifter Mirabai Chanu and swimmer Sajan Prakash were elected as athlete representatives to the General Body of the national sports apex body.
Sindhu and Harmanpreet, also a two-time Olympic medal winner, were the only candidates for the chairperson and vice-chairperson's post of the Athletes' Commission, and Returning Officer Sanjay K Srivastava declared them elected unopposed. Both Sindhu and Harmanpreet will become members of the executive council of the IOA to be constituted after the polls of the national Olympic body on December 5.
Chanu and Sajan were also the only candidates for the two seats of Athletes' Commission representatives in the IOA General Body. They are eligible to vote in the IOA polls on December 5. Thus, there will be no elections for the IOA Athletes' Commission chairperson and vice-chairperson, as well as for the two athlete representatives to the IOA General Assembly earlier scheduled to be held on Saturday. Returning Officer Srivastava will just issue the formal notification.
All the four athletes will have a tenure of four years (2026-2030). "Ms. Pusarla Venkata Sindhu (female) ... is the sole candidate who has filed nomination under the post of chairperson therefore, she becomes the chairperson of the IOA Athletes' Commission as an unopposed candidate and shall not be subject to polling. Mr. Harmanpreet Singh (male) ... becomes the Vice-Chairperson of the IOA Athletes' Commission as an unopposed candidate and shall not be subject to polling," said a notice issued by the Returning Officer on Friday.
"Ms. Mirabai Chanu Saikhom (Female) ... Mr. Sajan Prakash (Male) ... are the only candidates who have filed their nominations as the two (2) Representatives of the Athletes' Commission to the IOA General Assembly, against the one (1) seat each reserved for a male and a female representative. Accordingly, both candidates become unopposed Representatives of the Athletes' Commission to the IOA General Assembly and shall not be required to participate in the polling process."
"Under the circumstances, the Election of the Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson of IOA Executive Council and two (2) Representative of the Athletes' Commission to the IOA General Assembly, one (1) male and one (1) female, as scheduled on 7th November 2026, will not serve any purpose as there is only one (1) candidate against one (1) post in each category." Under the rules, either of the chairperson or vice-chairperson of the Athletes' Commission should be a male or a female athlete. The same rule applies to the two athlete representatives to the IOA General Body.
Moreover, the candidates for the post of chairperson and vice-chairperson of the Athletes' Commission were to be from among the six members in the Olympic category (who have participated in at least one of the last three editions of the Olympic Games). On November 3, Sindhu, Harmanpreet, Chanu and Sajan were among 10 sportspersons declared elected unopposed as members of the IOA Athletes' Commission by the Returning Officer.
With former track and field athlete Sudha Singh pulling out of the race, there was no need to conduct the polls as only 10 candidates were left in the fray for the same number of seats. Returning Officer Srivastava had declared all the 10 candidates, five male and five female, to have been elected unopposed.
Two Indians in the Olympic Council of Asia's (OCA) Athletes' Commission, Winter Olympian Shiva Keshavan and shooter Rajeshwari Kumari, will be the ex-officio members of the IOA's Athletes' Commission. The other members of the Athletes' Commission are women's hockey captain Salima Tete, shooter Swapnil Kusale, fencer Bhavani Devi, shot putter Tajinderpal Singh Toor, former archer Bombayla Devi and Manjeet Singh from kayaking and canoeing.
Sindhu, Chanu and Bhavani were also members of the earlier Athletes' Commission headed by celebrated boxer MC Mary Kom.