Indian Olympic Association appoints Suresh Kalmadi, Abhay Singh Chautala as life presidents

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on 27 December 2016 appointed Suresh Kalmadi and Abhay Singh Chautala as its life presidents.

The IOA unanimously appointed the Kalmadi and Chautala to the post during its Annual General Meeting in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

A life president of IOA is an honorary post with no voting rights or involvement in day-to-day functioning of the body. In its 89-year old history, IOA has had 12 presidents, including the current incumbent N Ramachandran.

About 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.

• IOA acts as the Indian Commonwealth Games Association and is also responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Commonwealth Games.

• India’s participation in the 1920 and 1924 Olympics created the backdrop for the creation of the IOA. Therefore, it was formed in 1927. Since then, it is being officially recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as India's national Olympic organisation. However, the IOA was suspended in December 2012 on the basis of corruption, government interference, and not following guidelines of the IOC.  It was in only May 2013 that IOC decided to lift the ban on IOA.

• In 1928, Maharaja Bhupindra Singh took over as the president of IOA.