Mary Kom elected as chairperson of IOA Athletes Commission, Sharath as vice chairperson

Mary Kom elected as chairperson of IOA Athletes Commission, Sharath as vice chairperson

Mary Kom has been elected as the chairperson of the Athletes Commission of IOA, while Achanta Sharath Kamal has been chosen as the vice chairperson.

2012 London Olympic bronze medal-winning boxer for India, Mary Kom was unanimously appointed as the chairperson of the Athletes Commission of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on November 15, Tuesday.

In the meantime, Table Tennis legend Achanta Sharath Kamal was elected as the vice-chairperson of the body. Earlier on Monday, Mary, alongside two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and Sharath Kamal alongside several other sporting superstars from India were named in the new ‘Athletes Commission’ of the IOA.

In a press release by IOA on Monday, Returning Officer (RO) Umesh Sinha announced the list of 10 members of the commission. The list included Mary Kom, PV Sindhu, Gagan Narang, Achanta Sharath Kamal, Bajrang Lal, Mirabai Chanu, Rani Rampal, Shiva Keshavan, Bhavani Debi, and Om Prakash Karhana. All these athletes made it to the Athletes’ Commission, without any challenge.

Know more about the election process

The elected members were in charge of electing a chairperson and a vice chairperson among themselves, and also selecting eight Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit (SOMs). The last date for submitting the application for the SOMs was at 4 PM on November 15, 2022. The chairperson Mary and vice-chairperson Achanta, alongside the SOMs will constitute the electoral college for the IOA President’s election, which is scheduled to be held on December 10, 2022.

A total of 42 athletes were nominated by 36 National Sports Federations, before 5 PM on November 13, 2022. The nominees had the option to withdraw their names before noon on November 14, 2022.

“On examination, it was found that the 10 candidates in the final list of candidates fulfilled the requirements of the categories and subcategories of the IOA charter, namely section 2A and 2B, which states, 1) The candidate must have competed in at least 1 of the last 3 Olympic Games or 2) Won a medal at the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games or National Games.

The 10 candidates were declared the uncontested winners and members of the new Athletes’ Commission of the IOA. The Returning officer handed over certificates for being elected,” ANI’s report further stated.