PT Usha has inspired several generations: Kalyan Chaubey on her election as IOA president
Dec 10, 2022
New Delhi [India], December 10 : Former India goalkeeper and president of All India Football Federation Kalyan Chaubey was elected unopposed as the joint secretary (male) of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) under the leadership of PT Usha who is elected unopposed as president.
The multiple Asian Games gold medallist is also the first Olympian and the first international medallist to hold the top post in the 95-year-old history of IOA.
Alaknanda Ashok of the Badminton Association of India (BAI) was elected as Joint Secretary (female) leaving behind other candidates Shalini Thakur Chawla and Suman Kaushik.
PT Usha's election brings an end to a long-drawn crisis in the faction-ridden IOA which was warned of a possible suspension by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) if elections were not held this month.
Olympic medallist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt and archer Dola Banerjee are in the executive council as male and female representatives of the eight Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit (SOM). Legendary boxer MC Mary Kom and veteran table tennis player Achanta Sharath Kamal are also part of the executive council by virtue of being president and vice president of the Athletes Commission.
"PT Usha has inspired several generations to take to athletics as their main profession. I am from football so my sport is different. Since we got elected as a team and most of the members have sports background, I feel it is easy to understand what needs to be done for sport. I am very happy to have Dola in archery, we have an athlete as president herself. So, I as a football player and there is Yogeshwar as wrestler and several others. So, definitely we will see what needs to be done for players and sports," Kalyan Chaubey told ANI.
Indian players are gearing up for the upcoming Asian Games to be played in Hangzhou in September next year and Paris Olympics 2024 is also not too far away. Therefore, the task is cut out for the current office bearers.
"We will try and prioritize things. We will conduct an executive committee meeting. We will discuss the games in terms of participation and in terms of hosting. Also players' interest in terms of medical and rehab, their logistics and support staff should be taken into priority basis,"
The elections were held as part of IOA's newly amended constitution which was presented to the IOA general body in a special general meeting on November 10. Among its amendments are steps to introduce greater athlete representation with eight sportspersons of outstanding merit (SOMs) and more excellent representation for women in various administrative and voting positions.
