Several prominent Indian athletes and Olympic medallists have thrown their hats into the ring to be elected as Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit (SOMs) in the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) elections. The election of SOMs is expected to play an important role in the IOA polls, especially in the contest for the president’s post.
There will be eight SOMs in the IOA General Assembly, comprising four men and four women. Former AFI president and Olympian Adille Sumariwalla has also thrown his hat into the ring. Former table tennis player Kamlesh Mehta, who was the general secretary of the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI), which is now under suspension by the Sports Ministry, also figures on the list. Ronjon Sodhi, Sardar Singh, Om Prakash Karhana, Jayant Talukdar and Samresh Jung are among the other applicants. Twenty three applicants have been provisionally included in the list and have been asked to furnish additional documents. A few applicants may also not have retired from active sport.
“From amongst the eight elected SOMs, two SOMs, comprising one male and one female SOM, shall be elected to the IOA Executive Council,” according to the IOA Constitution. Bhavani Devi, for instance, is still active in fencing and IOA officials in the knowhow said it will go through further scrutiny. The eligibility criteria state that SOMs should be “retired from active sport, i.e., they have not participated in any competitive sport event leading to selection to represent a district, State or India for at least one (1) year before the date of application and have represented India in an Olympic Sport for which the concerned National Sports Federation/national sports body is a member of IOA.”
