The Indian Olympic Affiliation’s new govt physique was elected on Saturday with legendary sprinter PT Usha formally taking cost as the primary lady head of the organisation. Usha, 58, was ‘elected unopposed’ as there was no different candidate within the fray for the highest publish.
She will probably be heading a staff that will probably be very completely different from the earlier IOA regime with sportspersons, feminine directors and elected Athletes Fee representatives as a part of the 15-member IOA govt physique.
Usha mentioned she had by no means thought that she would develop into a IOA president. She mentioned her staff will collectively work for the betterment of Indian sports activities.
“I’ve lived solely 13 years with out sports activities. Afterwards, I used to be an athlete, a coach an administrator – all completely different roles. However I by no means thought in the future I’d develop into an IOA chief or develop into a Member of Parliament,” mentioned Usha, who was additionally nominated in Rajya Sabha this yr.
“That is all due to my sports activities and my particular because of the newly constituted Athletes Fee, SOM, and federations that pushed me to provide my nomination and supported me,” mentioned one in all India’s greatest sprinters who gained a number of Asian Video games medals.
“Me and my staff will put a collective effort and we are going to do our greatest for the betterment of sport. We’ll take opinions of federations, athletes and coaches and we are going to work collectively to deliver extra medals for our nation. We need to preserve our tricolour excessive within the worldwide enviornment,” she mentioned.
Requested what would be the precedence of the brand new IOA, Usha mentioned it is going to be ‘accessible’ to each sportsperson.
“Folks suppose IOA is so huge that we won’t attain there. So, individuals can come out they usually can say their issues and it ought to be simply accessible. Whether or not it’s the associations or gamers, me and my staff will probably be at all times there for them.”
The IOA elections on the IOA Bhavan right here had a very completely different vibe to them with Olympic medallists Gagan Narang, Yogeshwar Dutt, PV Sindhu collaborating within the ballot course of. They have been due for a yr and varied courtroom orders had pushed for inclusion of elite sportspersons and gender parity within the governing physique.
The Supreme courtroom appointed retired decide Justice L. Nageswar Rao for amending the structure of the IOA. The brand new structure was framed according to the courtroom observations and in addition the Nationwide Sports activities Code and Worldwide Olympic Committee Constitution. The manager physique was trimmed down from 32 to fifteen. The manager physique has a very new look with eight sportspersons and 5 females, and no presence of any of the earlier IOA govt physique members.
Narang, an Athlete Fee member, would be the vp (male) whereas Dutt was one of many eight Sportspersons of Excellent Benefit (SOM) nominated within the govt council. Olympian Dola Banerjee and former tennis participant Rohit Rajpal additionally made it to the manager council. Usha too was nominated for the president’s publish as a SOM.
Earlier than the elections on Saturday, the governing council ratified the SOMs who have been chosen by the Athletes Fee. The method was overseen by returning officer Umesh Sinha, former secretary common Election Fee of India.
The manager physique may also have Athletes Fee chairperson MC Mary Kom and vice-chairperson Sharath Kamal. For the publish of secretary (feminine), Alaknanda Ashok of Badminton Affiliation of India (BAI) defeated Suman Kaushik of Netball Federation of India. Apart from, for the 4 posts of govt council for which elections occurred on Saturday went to Bhupender Singh Bajwa, Amitabh Sharma, Harpal Singh and Rohit Rajpal.
Usha mentioned sportspersons know the robust journey they make from a decrease stage to worldwide stage.
“It’s good that there are such a lot of sportspersons within the govt physique. I’m not near the IOA, federations. I’ve come due to all sportspersons. I’ve come by means of SOM,” she mentioned.
The manager physique will now meet and can look to put down the process of appointing IOA’s first Chief Govt Officer for operating each day administration.
“We’ll prioritise issues. We have now a brand new structure and there have been a number of adjustments. There’s a new publish of CEO. After an govt committee assembly is named, one of many factors on the agenda will probably be the right way to appoint the CEO and what would be the procdeure,” mentioned Kalyan Chaubey, who was elected unopposed as joint secretary (male). He’s additionally the president of All India Soccer Federation (AIFF).
Requested in regards to the long-term targets of the IOA, Chaubey mentioned, “Perhaps we want to improve our medals within the Olympics, perhaps we want to host the Olympics. We wish provide you with youth growth plan, growth of infrastructure, higher coverage for medical suppprt, retirement advantages , sports activities training. These are areas we have to focus on.”