Vijender Singh, Gagan Narang among four athletes elected unopposed as IOA male SOMs
Four male Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit were chosen without a contest ahead of the IOA Executive Council elections on December 5.
India Today reported that Olympic medallists Vijender Singh, Gagan Narang and Yogeshwar Dutt, with former table tennis player Kamlesh Mehta, were elected unopposed as male SOMs by the IOA on Saturday.
Key takeaways
- Vijender Singh, Gagan Narang, Yogeshwar Dutt and Kamlesh Mehta elected unopposed as male SOMs
- Eight male candidates withdrew nominations before Saturday's 2pm deadline
- IOA elections scheduled for December 5
- Eight elected SOMs become General Assembly members eligible to vote and contest
- Two SOMs, one man and one woman, will join the IOA Executive Council
Olympic medallists Vijender Singh, Gagan Narang and Yogeshwar Dutt, along with former table tennis player Kamlesh Mehta, were elected unopposed as the four male Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit (SOMs) by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Saturday. The development comes ahead of the IOA Executive Council elections scheduled for December 5.
Male SOMs elected unopposed
Eight former athletes withdrew their nominations from the male category before Saturday's 2pm deadline, leaving exactly four candidates for the four available seats. As a result, no contest was needed for the men's SOM election.
Among those who withdrew were World Athletics vice-president Adille Sumariwalla, table tennis player Achanta Sharath Kamal, former shuttler B. Sai Praneeth, weightlifter Sathish Kumar Sivalingam, Olympic hockey gold medallist Surinder Singh Shokar and former shooters Ronjan Sodhi, Mansher Singh and Moraad Ali Khan.
Women's SOM election set for November 9
Six candidates remain in contention for the four women's SOM seats: incumbent IOA president P.T. Usha, Olympic medallist Saina Nehwal, World Championships bronze medallist Anju Bobby George, former hockey captain Rani Rampal, former archer Dola Banerjee and basketball player Anitha Paul Durai. The women's election will be conducted virtually on November 9, Electoral Officer Sanjay Kumar Srivastava confirmed.
Role of SOMs and past context
The eight elected SOMs, comprising four men and four women, will become members of the IOA General Assembly, making them eligible to vote and contest the December 5 Executive Council elections.
Two SOMs, one man and one woman, will also be elected to the IOA Executive Council.
In 2022, Usha was elected IOA president after becoming a SOM, and Dutt and Banerjee were in the outgoing executive council after being chosen as SOMs before the 2022 IOA elections.
Athlete backgrounds
Vijender Singh won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, becoming the first Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal. Gagan Narang won bronze in the Men's 10m Air Rifle at the 2012 London Olympics with a final score of 701.1.
Allegations and denial
Former Clean Sports India national convener B.V.P. Rao alleged that some candidates withdrew under pressure from the Sports Ministry. A ministry source rejected the allegations, maintaining that the government had neither interfered in nor played any role in the IOA electoral process.
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