PT Usha Remains In IOA Presidential Race After Making Final Electoral Roll

PT Usha remains in the race for another term as Indian Olympic Association president after the assistant electoral officer accepted her nomination to the electoral college. Electoral officer Sanjay Kumar Srivastava published the final electoral roll on Sunday, and Usha's name features in it for the December 5 executive council elections. The provisional list was released on November 12.

Usha returned to the contest after losing the Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit polls. She filed her nomination through the Ice Hockey Association of India, opening a new route back into the election battle at the top of Indian sport.

Nomination Challenge Erupts

The dispute centred on her entry through ice hockey.

A faction of the Ice Hockey Association of India challenged Usha's nomination on Friday. It argued that she was not a member of the national federation and so could not represent it in the IOA general body. The objection also challenged the nomination of Harjinder Singh, secretary general of the IHAI.

The objections were received on November 13. After that, the electoral officer sought a response from the IHAI and called its representatives for a personal hearing on Saturday.

Harjinder and advocate Srinivas Kotni attended the hearing. They told the electoral officer that Usha and the current secretary general remained active members of the association. They also filed a detailed affidavit, notarised on November 14, with records and explanations to answer the objections.

The electoral officer reviewed the objections and the replies from both sides, then threw them out and cleared the nominations.

Membership Clarification Held

The key issue was membership.

During the proceedings, a clarification was sought from the IOA on whether a person linked to one sport could be a member only of the corresponding national sports federation or could also choose membership of another NSF.

The IOA informed the electoral officer that "the mere fact that an individual is a member of another NSF does not, by itself, operate as an automatic disqualification". That view became central to the decision to uphold Usha's nomination.

The electoral officer also held that there was no clarity or distinguishing provision on the issue in the IOA constitution or the National Sports Governance Act, 2025, and related rules. At the same time, Article 10.4 of the IOA Constitution, ratified in September this year, says that "the representatives nominated by each unit (NSF) must be members of such units (NSFs)".

Final Roll And Fallout

The final roll has 71 representatives.

Of these, 60 are from various national sports federations. The roll also includes two elected Athletes' Commission members to the general assembly—one male and one female—eight elected SOMs and International Olympic Committee member from India Nita Ambani.

Usha’s comeback has unsettled the national sports federations and the sports ministry. The Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit election was already under a cloud over 'unfair means' and claims that officials from several sports bodies interfered. Usha later wrote to the IOC, which reprimanded India for sullying the Olympic movement, and that move has also put India’s 2036 Olympic bid at risk.

Her re-entry could reshape the presidential contest. It may make Gagan Narang's candidature more difficult because he will need backing from the NSFs. Usha's defiance could also bring the federations together under one banner. For now, all eyes are on the nominations.