PT Usha, Yogeshwar Dutt among 8 SOMs with voting rights

The Indian Olympic Association's (IOA) newly formed athletes commission, on Sunday, announced the list of the 8 'sportspersons of outstanding merit' (SOM), who will have voting rights for the national body's executive committee elections next month.

Equally divided by gender, the 8 athletes who have been handed the voting rights includes PT Usha (Athletics), Yogeshwar Dutt (Wrestling), MM Somaya (Hockey), Rohit Rajpal (Tennis), Akhil Kumar (Boxing), Suma Shirur (Shooting), Aparna Popat (Badminton), and Dola Banerjee (Archery).

 The 8 SOMs were decided by the athletes commission's five-member sub committee headed by Olympic medallist Gagan Narang. As per reports, more than 70 athletes had applied for the available 8 SOM slots.

The eight selected SOMs will have not only have voting rights at the IOA elections slated for next month, but can also contest for any office bearer's post during the polls.