30 NSFs Eligible To Vote In IOA Polls On December 5 With BFI, TTFI And IGU Excluded
Thirty National Sports Federations (NSFs) have been declared eligible to participate in the Indian Olympic Association's (IOA) executive council elections scheduled for December 5, 2026, while the Boxing Federation of India (BFI), Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI) and Indian Golf Union (IGU) have been excluded from the electoral process.
IOA Electoral Officer Sanjay K Srivastava issued the list of eligible federations on November 9, directing each of them to nominate two representatives, one male and one female, to the electoral college. The federations must submit their nominations by 3 pm on November 12.
The 30 eligible federations represent sports including football, tennis, kabaddi, archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, cycling, fencing, gymnastics, hockey, shooting, swimming, squash, wrestling, weightlifting and wushu, among others.
The exclusion of the three federations comes amid administrative issues. The TTFI is currently being managed by an ad-hoc body, while the IGU has two rival factions, one recognised by the IOA and the other by the Sports Ministry. The BFI has also been facing factional disputes.
According to the IOA Constitution, NSFs governing sports included in the Olympic, Asian or Commonwealth Games programmes are entitled to nominate two representatives to the General Assembly.
Apart from the 60 representatives nominated by the 30 federations, the electoral college will comprise eight Sportspersons of Merit (SOMs), two representatives from the Athletes Commission and India's member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). This will take the total number of voters to 71, with each member having one vote.
The nominated representatives must be Indian citizens below 70 years of age, voting members of their respective federations and individuals with good standing, sound judgment and knowledge of Olympic principles. They must not have disqualifications relating to insolvency, criminal convictions resulting in imprisonment, doping violations or ethics-related bans.
The final electoral college list will be published on November 15. The detailed schedule covering polling, counting and the announcement of results will be issued later.