Raja Randhir Singh sole candidate for OCA presidency

Randhir Singh sole candidate for OCA presidency. GETTY IMAGES

The Election Committee of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) can confirm that OCA Acting President Raja Randhir Singh is the only eligible candidate to be nominated for election at the OCA General Assembly on 8 September 2024.

The Election Committee, chaired by Justice Rohinton Nariman, met to review the CVs and eligibility requirements as per the OCA Constitution, Election Rules and Guidelines of all the nominees submitted by the OCA Member NOCs by the deadline of 21 July 2024. The Committee unanimously approved the election of Singh, who was nominated by the NOC of India and supported by 27 OCA Member NOCs.

The President of the Mongolian Olympic Committee, Battushig Batbold, who was nominated by the NOC of Mongolia, was deemed ineligible by the Committee as he does not meet the eligibility requirements set out in Articles 22.1.2.1, 22.1.2.2 and 22.1.2.3 of the OCA Constitution, which state that the OCA President must either have been President of his NOC for a minimum of eight years or have been a member of the OCA EB for a minimum of eight years and be supported by two NOCs.

Following the meeting the Committee was informed by an email from the Secretary General of the NOC of Mongolia that Batbold had withdrawn his nomination for the position of President.

The Committee also considered all nominations received for the five OCA Zonal Vice-Presidents and the five OCA Executive Board members, who must each be from a different Zone and be of a different gender to their Zonal Vice-President.

Randhir Singh has been the president of the Olympic Council of Asia since 11 September 2021. GETTY IMAGES

Vice Presidential candidates deemed eligible by the Election Committee:

-East: Timothy Fok (Hong Kong) and Battushig Batbold (Mongolia).

-Southeast: Norza Zakaria (Malaysia).

-South Asia: HRH Prince Jigyel Wangchuk (Bhutan) and Maxwell De Silva (Sri Lanka).

-Central Zone: Otabek Umarov (Uzbekistan) and Sadyr Mamytov (Kyrgyzstan).

-West Asia: Thani Al Kuwari (Qatar).

Nominations for members of the Executive Committee from all zones were considered eligible. However, in accordance with Art. 16.2.3 of the OCA Constitution, if the General Assembly elects a male candidate for the position of Vice-President, the EB member from the same zone must be a female and a male candidate is automatically ineligible. No nominations were received from the South Asia Zone for the position of Executive Board Member.