Representative image. President's Secretariat, GODL-India, Wikimedia Commons
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Why it matters
The athlete seats determine representation in the IOA electoral structure. They are an earlier stage than the vote for the next executive council.
IOA vote results confirmed Anju Bobby George, Rani Rampal, Dola Banerjee and Saina Nehwal as the four elected women athlete representatives on 9 November 2026. P.T. Usha finished fifth in the six-candidate contest, according to the news agency Asian News International (ANI) and Hindustan Times.
The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) election was for Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit representatives, known as SOMs. It was not the presidential election. The separate vote to elect the association’s executive council is scheduled for 5 December, and the result changes one route through which athletes enter that process.
IOA vote results: the six-candidate table
ANI reports that Anju Bobby George received 53 valid votes, followed by Rani Rampal with 50, Dola Banerjee with 45 and Saina Nehwal with 43. Usha received 40, while Anitha Paul Durai received six.
Hindustan Times independently reports the same figures for the four elected women and Usha. It says the online result was announced by returning officer Sanjay Kumar Srivastava. Both accounts describe a voting roster of 80 athletes.
| Candidate | Votes reported | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Anju Bobby George | 53 | Elected |
| Rani Rampal | 50 | Elected |
| Dola Banerjee | 45 | Elected |
| Saina Nehwal | 43 | Elected |
| P.T. Usha | 40 | Not elected |
| Anitha Paul Durai | 6 | Not elected |
NewsPlainly calculates the gap between the fourth-placed candidate and Usha as three votes: 43 minus 40. That is a comparison of candidate totals. The reports do not justify converting the table into percentages that imply each of the 80 voters selected only one candidate.
What athlete-representative seats actually decide
The elected SOMs join the IOA general assembly and are eligible to vote and contest in the executive-council election, ANI reports. One male and one female representative will also have places on the executive council.
This makes the athlete vote significant before the leadership election, but the stages should remain separate. Winning an athlete-representative seat gives a person a place in the association’s electoral structure; it does not by itself elect that person president.
Usha entered the association’s leadership through the SOM route in 2022 and became its first woman president in December that year. Her failure to win one of the four seats in this election therefore affects the route she used previously.
Hindustan Times reports a possible alternative through nomination to the general assembly by a recognised national sports federation, subject to the IOA constitution’s criteria. The result should consequently not be described as proof that every conceivable route is closed.
The men’s seats were settled without a contest
The men’s category followed a different path. Gagan Narang, Kamlesh Mehta, Yogeshwar Dutt and Vijender Singh were elected unopposed after eight of the 12 contenders withdrew, ANI reports.
They join the four women as the eight athlete representatives. Narang, Dutt and Singh are Olympic medallists; Mehta is a former table-tennis player. Their unopposed selection is distinct from the six-way women’s vote, so the women’s candidate totals cannot be used to compare support across both categories.
The difference also explains why one group required a ballot while the other did not: the men’s remaining candidate count matched the available seats, while six women were still competing for four positions.
The next election is scheduled for 5 December
The executive-council election is scheduled for the 2026 to 2030 term. Hindustan Times reports that recognised national federations must send one male and one female nominee each to the general assembly. The athlete representatives, two Athletes Commission representatives and India’s International Olympic Committee member also participate in that assembly.
The immediate confirmed outcome is the selection of the eight athlete representatives. The final leadership outcome remains for the December electoral process. Neither the result table nor the three-vote gap establishes who will become the next president.
Readers can follow further confirmed election and sporting developments in NewsPlainly’s sports coverage.
Frequently asked questions
Was this the IOA presidential election?
No. It selected athlete representatives before the scheduled 5 December executive-council election.
How far was Usha behind fourth place?
The reported totals were 43 for Saina Nehwal and 40 for Usha, a difference of three votes.