Four candidates, including Sardar Singh, dropped out of the IOA SOM election fray; 23 remain in the fight

Former Indian hockey player Sardar Singh NEW DELHI: Sardar Singh, B Sumeeth Reddy, Om Prakash Singh Karhana and Sunith Singh have failed to make it to the final list of validly nominated candidates ahead of the November 9 election for IOA’s Sportsperson of Exceptional Merit (SOM).Four candidates failed to make the cut for the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Athletes of Exceptional Merit (SOM) selection after scrutiny of nominations, reducing the field from 27 proposed candidates to 23.The final list of validly nominated candidates released by Election Officer Sanjay Kumar Srivastava on Thursday includes 12 men and 11 women. The draft list published on 31 October had 15 male and 12 female candidates.Former Indian hockey captain Sardar Singh, badminton player B Sumeeth Reddy and bowler Om Prakash Singh Karhana are missing from the final list. Sunith Singh is the only candidate from the draft list who did not make it through.The remaining candidates include prominent sports figures such as current IOA president PT Usha, vice-president Gagan Narang, Olympic medalists Vijender Singh and Yogeshwar Dutt, former Athletics Federation of India president Adille Sumariwalla, former table tennis player Achanta Sharath Kamal and badminton star Saina Nehwal.The final list follows the publication of draft nominations on October 31 and a subsequent review process.

How the SOM election process works

The SOM elections are part of the wider IOA election process for the period 2026-2030. The Electoral College consists of 80 athletes of exceptional merit, equally divided between 40 men and 40 women.In the election on November 9, these 80 members will vote to elect eight representatives to the IOA General Assembly – four men and four women.The nomination process requires candidates to be proposed and seconded by members of SOM’s published electoral roll. Electoral guidelines also prescribe restrictions on nominating and broadcasting multiple candidates in the same gender category. Digital signatures have been enabled, with voting taking place virtually.After the nominations have been reviewed, candidates have the opportunity to withdraw on November 6 and 7. The final list of candidates is expected to be released on November 7th before voting, counting and results are announced on November 9th.The eight elected SOM representatives will become part of the IOA General Assembly. Of these, one man and one representative will subsequently be elected to the IOA Executive Board.Their participation will therefore go beyond the SOM elections themselves, and the elected athletes will thus have a direct role in the composition of the IOA’s governing body for the next four-year period.

IOA SOM election candidates:

MALE1. Mansher Singh2. Surinder Singh Shokar3. Gagan Narang4. Morad Ali Khan5.Kamlesh Mehta6. Sathish Kumar Sivalingam7. Yogeshwar Dutt8. Ronjan Sodhi9. Sai Praneeth10. Achanta Sharath Kamal11. Vijender Singh12. Adille SumariwallaWOMAN1. Dola Banerjee2. Ashwini Nachappa3. Chekrovolu Swuro4. Neelam Setti Laxmi5. PT Usha6. Rani Rampal7. Urges Kiro8. Saina Nehwal9. Trupti Murgunde10. Anitha Paul Durai11. Anju Bobby George