Mary Kom elected as the Chairperson of Athletes Commission of IOA

Six-time World women’s boxing champion and Olympic medallist Mary Kom was elected as the Chairperson of the Athletes Commission of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Tuesday.

Mary Kom and Sharath Kamal with their certificates from Returning Officer Umesh Sinha in Delhi on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Six-time World women’s boxing champion and Olympic medallist Mary Kom was elected as the Chairperson of the Athletes Commission of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Tuesday.

The vice Chairperson position went to Sharath Kamal, the table tennis ace who will be receiving the Khel Ratna award this month.

Both received their certificates from the Returning Officer Umesh Sinha who will conducting the election of the IOA) on December 10.

The athletes commission nominated Olympic medallists PV Sindhu and Gagan Narang for inclusion in the electoral college for the Executive Council of the IOA.

The immediate task of the Athletes Commission would be to identify eight Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit (SOM) who would then be voting members of the IOA’s General Assembly.

The process of application for SOM closed at 4 p.m. on Tuesday. The Athletes Commission would scrutinise all the applications on the basis of eligibility criteria etc. and choose the best eight.

One of the criteria is that the sportsperson should have retired from the sport, and should have won a medal in the Olympics, Asian Games or Commonwealth Games.