Indian Olympic Association


The Indian Olympic Association is the body responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Olympic Games, Asian Games and other international athletic meets and for managing the Indian teams at these events. It also acts as the Indian Commonwealth Games Association, responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Commonwealth Games.

Early history

Background and early years: The background behind the creation of the Indian Olympic Association was related to India’s participation in the 1920 and 1924 Olympics. After the 1920 Games, the committee sending the team to these games met, and, on the advice of Sir Dorab Tata, invited Dr. Noehren to be secretary, along with AS Bhagwat, of the provisional Indian Olympic Committee; Dorab Tata would serve as its president. Subsequently, in 1923-24, a provisional All India Olympic Committee was formed, and the All India Olympic Games were held in Feb 1924. Eight athletes from these games were selected to represent India at the 1924 Paris Olympics, accompanied by manager Harry Crowe Buck. This gave impetus to the development and institutionalization of sports in India, and, in 1927, the Indian Olympic Association, was created at the initiative of Harry Crowe Buck and Dr. A. G. Noehren. Sir Dorab Tata was important in financing and supporting the movement and became the first Indian Olympic Association president in 1927. Messrs Buck and Noehren travelled across India and helped many states organise their Olympic associations. Noehren was the first Secretary and G. D. Sondhi was the first assistant secretary of the Indian Olympic Association, and, after Noehren resigned in 1938, Sondhi and S.M. Moinul Haq became the Secretary and Joint Secretary of the Indian Olympic Association.
And so the Indian Olympic Association was formed in 1927, and since that year was officially recognised by the International Olympic Committee as India's national Olympic organisation. In 1928, Maharaja Bhupindra Singh took over as Indian Olympic Association president.
Early tasks:
Illustrating this, IOA President Yadavindra Singh's appeal for funding in 1948 stated: "We need about 3 Lacs of rupees to finance" the Indian Olympic team for the London Olympics; that "the youth taking part in these games become ambassadors of goodwill" for India; and that "careful selection, intensive training and proper equipment is most essential" to field a competitive team, but that the Indian Olympic Association is "greatly handicapped for want of sufficient funds" for these tasks.
The Indian Olympic Association thus undertook wider outreach with several national sports federations, and essentially became a clearing house that coordinated the sending of multiple sports teams – each selected by their respective sports federations – to the Olympics.

IOA Secretary Generals

IOA Executive Council

Following is the IOA Executive Committee for the 2019–2024 term.
DesignationNameNational Sports Federation /
State Olympic Committee
PresidentDr. Narinder Dhruv BatraHockey India
Senior Vice-PresidentMr. Aakash Kamboj AKUttarakhand Hockey Association
Vice-PresidentsMr. Adille SumariwallaAthletics Federation of India
Vice-PresidentsMr. Birendra Prasad BaishyaIndian Weightlifting Federation
Vice-PresidentsMr. Virendra D. NanavatiSwimming Federation of India
Vice-PresidentsMr. Sudhanshu MittalKho Kho Federation of India
Vice-PresidentsMs. Sunaina KumariBowling Federation of India
Vice-PresidentsMr. K. GovindarajBasketball Federation of India
Vice-PresidentsMr. Kuldeep VatsDelhi Olympic Association
Vice-PresidentsMr. Karan ChautalaLuge Federation of India
Secretary GeneralMr. Rajeev MehtaFencing Association of India
TreasurerMr. Anandeshwar PandeyHandball Federation of India
Joint SecretariesDr. Surinder Mohan BaliIce Hockey Association of India
Joint SecretariesMr. Rakesh GuptaIndian Triathlon Federation
Joint SecretariesMr. Namdev Sampat ShirgaonkarModern Pentathlon Federation of India
Joint SecretariesMr. Onkar SinghCycling Federation of India
Joint SecretariesMr. D. V. Seetharama RaoNational Rifle Association of India
Joint SecretariesMr. Vikram Singh SisodiaChhattisgarh Olympic Association
Executive MembersMr. Adhip DasOdisha Olympic Association
Executive MembersMr. Ajit BanerjeeBengal Olympic Association
Executive MembersMr. Balbir Singh KushwahaIndian Kayaking & Canoeing Association
Executive MembersMr. Digvijay SinghMadhya Pradesh Olympic Association
Executive MembersMr. Dushyant ChautalaTable Tennis Federation of India
Executive MembersMr. Gurudatta D. BhaktaGoa Olympic Association
Executive MembersMr. Hemochandra Singh IrengbamManipur Olympic Association
Executive MembersMr. V. N. PrasoodWrestling Federation of India
Executive MembersMr. Rupak DebroyTripura State Olympic Association
Executive MembersMr. Abhijit SarkarUttar Pradesh Olympic Association
Repr. of Athletes' CommissionDr. Malav Shroff

State Olympic Associations

  1. Andaman and Nicobar Olympic Association
  2. Andhra Pradesh Olympic Association
  3. Arunachal Pradesh Olympic Association
  4. Assam Olympic Association
  5. Bihar Olympic Association
  6. Chandigarh Olympic Association
  7. Chhattisgarh Olympic Association
  8. Delhi Olympic Association
  9. Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Olympic Association
  10. Goa Olympic Association
  11. Gujarat State Olympic Association
  12. Haryana Olympic Association
  13. Himachal Pradesh Olympic Association
  14. Jammu and Kashmir Olympic Association
  15. Jharkhand Olympic Association
  16. Karnataka Olympic Association
  17. Kerala Olympic Association
  18. Madhya Pradesh Olympic Association
  19. Maharashtra Olympic Association
  20. Manipur Olympic Association
  21. Meghalaya State Olympic Association
  22. Mizoram Olympic Association
  23. Nagaland Olympic Association
  24. Odisha Olympic Association
  25. Pondicherry Olympic Association
  26. Punjab Olympic Association
  27. Rajasthan Olympic Association
  28. Sikkim Olympic Association
  29. Tamil Nadu Olympic Association
  30. Olympic Association of Telangana
  31. Tripura State Olympic Association
  32. Uttarakhand Olympic Association
  33. Uttar Pradesh Olympic Association
  34. West Bengal Olympic Association
  35. Services Sports Control Board

    National Sports Federations

National sports federations are categorized in two categories i.e. Olympic Sports and Other Recognized Sports
The IOC's membership currently includes 38 National Sports Federations.

IOC Permanent Olympic Sports

IOC Winter Olympic Sports

These all sports are under the Winter Games Federation of India.
SportNational Federation
Ice HockeyIce Hockey Association of India
Ice SkatingIce Skating Association of India
LugeIndian Amateur Luge Association

IOC recognized sports

Following are the National Sports Federation of sports which are recognized by IOC.
SportNational Federation
BillardThe Billards & Snooker Federation of India
BowlingBowling Federation of India
KarateAll India karate do Federation
NetballNetball Federation of India
SquashSquash Rackets Federation of India
WushuWushu Association of India
MUAYMuayThai India.
All SportsStudents Olympic Association of India

Others

Following are some sports which IOC does not recognise as a Sport.
SportNational Federation
Arm wrestlingIndian Arm Wrestling Federation
KabaddiAmateur Kabaddi Federation of India
Kho KhoKho Kho Federation of India
YachtingYachting Association of India

Disputes

On 26 April 2011, after the arrest of its president Suresh Kalmadi, Vijay Kumar Malhotra was the acting president of the IOA up to 5 December 2012. The election of Lalit Bhanot as Secretary General was considered controversial by some due to his alleged involvement in the Commonwealth Games Scam.
On 4 December 2012, the International Olympic Committee suspended the IOA on the basis of corruption, government interference, and not following guidelines of the IOC. Several members of the IOA have been charged with crimes. The IOA was formally banned for not following the Olympic Charter in their elections, instead following the Indian government's Sports Code. The IOA held elections under the Indian Sports Code due to a directive from the Delhi High Court. On 15 May 2013, International Olympic Committee decided to lift the ban on the Indian Olympic Association as Indian representatives from the government and sports bodies reached an agreement with IOC officials. India still did not have its three competitors play under the national flag at the 2014 Olympics. On 9 February, an election was held to choose a head of the IOA. Abhay Singh Chautala and Lalit Bhanot were ineligible due to having court charges against them. The president of the World Squash Federation, Narayana Ramachandran, was instead elected.
On 11 February 2014, the International Olympic Committee revoked the ban enforced on Indian Olympic Association. As a result, India returned to the Olympic fold after 14-months.

Olympic Medalist

Women

Men

Multi-sport events hosted by IOA

The IOA is present on social media, with the Press Office of the Committee running an official Facebook page, as well as Twitter and Instagram accounts.