IOA Allowed to Retain 16-member Executive Council

Section 4(1)(b) of the National Sports Governance Act, 2025 caps a national sports body’s Executive Committee at 15 members, including ex officio members. When the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) aligned its constitution with the Act at its Special General Body Meeting on 8 September 2026, it retained one exception: 15 members plus the ex-officio International Olympic Committee (IOC) Member in India with voting rights. The IOC had recommended that the Executive Council size remain unchanged and independent of the number of IOC Members in India. By gazette notification, the Sports Ministry invoked its powers under Section 37(2) of the Act to clarify that Section 4(1)(b) will not apply to the IOA to the extent necessary to accommodate the IOC Member(s) in India.