The Indian Olympic Association, abbreviated as IOA, (ISO: Bhāratīya Olaṃpika Saṃgha) is responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Olympic Games, Asian Games and other international sports competitions, and managing Indian teams at these events. It goes with the name of Team India. It also acts as the Indian Commonwealth Games Association, responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Commonwealth Games.
History
The background behind the creation of the Indian Olympic Association was related to India's participation in the 1920 and 1924 Olympics. After the 1920 Games, the committee sending the team to these games met, and, on the advice of Sir Dorab Tata, invited Dr. Noehren (Physical Education Director of YMCA India) to be secretary, along with AS Bhagwat, of the provisional Indian Olympic Committee; Dorab Tata would serve as its president. Subsequently, in 1923–24, a provisional All India Olympic Committee was formed, and the All India Olympic Games (that later became the National Games of India) were held in Feb 1924. Eight athletes from these games were selected to represent India at the 1924 Paris Olympics, accompanied by manager Harry Crowe Buck. This gave impetus to the development and institutionalization of sports in India, and, in 1927, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), was created at the initiative of Harry Crowe Buck and Dr. A. G. Noehren (both of the Madras (YMCA) College of Physical Education).Dr A G Noehren was National Physical Education Director of the YMCAs in India, and H C Buck was Principal of the National YMCA school of physical education in Madras Sir Dorab Tata was important in financing and supporting the movement and became the first Indian Olympic Association president in 1927. Messrs Buck and Noehren travelled across India and helped many states organise their Olympic associations. Noehren was the first Secretary and Guru Dutt Sondhi was the first assistant secretary of the Indian Olympic Association, and after Noehren resigned in 1938, Sondhi and S.M. Moinul Haq became the secretary and joint secretary of the Indian Olympic Association.
The Indian Olympic Association was formed in 1927, and since that year was officially recognised by the International Olympic Committee as India's national Olympic organisation. In 1928, Maharaja Bhupindra Singh took over as Indian Olympic Association president.
Early tasks: Sending teams to the Olympics: In its first decade, the Indian Olympic Association selected sportspersons to represent India at the Olympic Games in 1928, 1932, and 1936. Subsequently, by 1946–47, the Indian Olympic Association took responsibility only to send the Indian team to the Olympics (principally, this meant arranging transport, board, and accommodation), while the separate federations for each sport were responsible for selecting and training competitors for their sport. Reflecting this, ahead of the 1948 Olympics, the IOA Council agreed that a team representing athletics, swimming, weight lifting, wrestling, boxing, football, and hockey, with officials for each of these sports, and a Chief Manager, would be entered for the 1948 Olympics. And so, from 1948 onward, India began sending teams representing several sports – each selected by its respective sports federation – to the Olympics.
Securing funding: One of the Indian Olympic Association's main early challenges was to secure funding, so that it could send the national team to the Olympics and finance the related costs of transport, room, and board. It obtained funding from the Indian government, from the state governments, and from various state sports federations. Illustrating this, IOA President Yadavindra Singh's appeal for funding in 1948 stated: "We need about 3 lakh of rupees to finance" the Indian Olympic team for the London Olympics; that "the youth taking part in these games become ambassadors of goodwill" for India; and that "careful selection, intensive training and proper equipment is most essential" to field a competitive team, but that the Indian Olympic Association is "greatly handicapped for want of sufficient funds" for these tasks.Appeal by Yadavindra Singh, President, Indian Olympic Association, 1948
The Indian Olympic Association thus undertook wider outreach with several national sports federations, and essentially became a clearing house that coordinated the sending of multiple sports teams – each selected by their respective sports federations – to the Olympics.
The National Games: The Indian Olympic Association had one other major responsibility, that of holding the biennial National Games (Indian Olympics). It recognised, in the 1920s-1940s, that the promotion of sports in India needed a National Games, because there was no overall national sports federation of India.
Administration
IOA executive council Following is the IOA executive committee for the 2022–2026 term. Designation Name National sports federation / State olympic committee President P. T. Usha Athletes Commission of the IOA Senior Vice-President Ajay Patel National Rifle Association of India Vice-Presidents Rajlaxmi Singh Deo Rowing Federation of India Gagan Narang Athletes Commission of the IOA Treasurer Sahdev Yadav Indian Weightlifting Federation CEO Raghuram Aiyar Joint Secretaries Kalyan Chaubey All India Football Federation Alaknanda Ashok Badminton Association of India Executive Council Members Amitabh Sharma Ice Skating Association of India Bhupender Singh Bajwa Wushu Association of India Lt. Gen. Harpal Singh Indian Golf Union Rohit Rajpal Athletes Commission of the IOA Dola Banerjee Athletes Commission of the IOA Yogeshwar Dutt Athletes Commission of the IOA Athletes' Commission Members Mary Kom Sharath Kamal
State Olympic Associations Andaman and Nicobar Olympic Association Andhra Pradesh Olympic Association Arunachal Pradesh Olympic Association Assam Olympic Association Bengal Olympic Association Bihar Olympic Association Chandigarh Olympic Association Chhattisgarh Olympic Association Delhi Olympic Association Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu Olympic Association Goa Olympic Association Gujarat State Olympic Association Haryana Olympic Association Himachal Pradesh Olympic Association Jammu and Kashmir Olympic Association Jharkhand Olympic Association Karnataka Olympic Association Kerala Olympic Association Madhya Pradesh Olympic Association Maharashtra Olympic Association Manipur Olympic Association Meghalaya State Olympic Association Mizoram Olympic Association Nagaland Olympic Association Odisha Olympic Association Pondicherry Olympic Association Punjab Olympic Association Rajasthan Olympic Association Sikkim Olympic Association Tamil Nadu Olympic Association Olympic Association of Telangana Tripura State Olympic Association Uttarakhand Olympic Association Uttar Pradesh Olympic Association
National sports federations
National sports federations are categorized in two categories i.e. Olympic Sports and Other Recognized Sports
The IOC's membership currently includes 38 National Sports Federations.
Summer Olympic sports Sport National FederationAquatics Swimming Federation of IndiaArchery Archery Association of IndiaAthletics Athletics Federation of IndiaBadminton Badminton Association of IndiaBaseball Amateur Baseball Federation of IndiaBasketball Basketball Federation of IndiaBoxing Boxing Federation of IndiaCanoeing Indian Kayaking and Canoeing AssociationCricket Board of Control for Cricket in IndiaCycling Cycling Federation of IndiaEquestrian Equestrian Federation of IndiaFencing Fencing Association of IndiaFootball All India Football FederationGolf Indian Golf UnionGymnastics Gymnastics Federation of IndiaHandball Handball Federation of IndiaHockey Hockey IndiaJudo Judo Federation of IndiaModern Pentathlon Modern Pentathlon Federation of IndiaRowing Rowing Federation of IndiaRugby Indian Rugby Football UnionSkateboarding Roller Skating Federation of IndiaSailing Yachting Association of IndiaShooting National Rifle Association of IndiaSoftball Softball Association of IndiaSquash Squash Rackets Federation of IndiaSurfing Surfing Federation of IndiaTable Tennis Table Tennis Federation of IndiaTaekwondo Taekwondo Federation of IndiaTennis All India Tennis AssociationTriathlon Indian Triathlon FederationVolleyball Volleyball Federation of IndiaWeightlifting Indian Weightlifting FederationKarate Karate Association of IndiaWrestling Wrestling Federation of India
Winter Olympic sports These all sports are under the Winter Games Federation of India.
Sport National FederationIce Hockey Ice Hockey Association of IndiaIce Skating Ice Skating Association of IndiaLuge Luge Federation of IndiaSkiing Ski and Snowboard India
IOC recognized sports
Sport National FederationAir sports Aero Club of IndiaBandy Bandy Federation of IndiaBocce Bocce Association of IndiaPétanque Pétanque Federation of IndiaBowling Bowling Federation of IndiaBridge Bridge Federation of IndiaBillard Billiards and Snooker Federation of IndiaChess All India Chess FederationDancesport All India DanceSport FederationFloorball Indian Floorball FederationKarate Karate India OrganisationKorfball India Korfball CommitteeLifesaving Rashtriya Life Saving SocietyMotorsport Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of IndiaMountaineering and Sport climbing Indian Mountaineering FoundationNetball Netball Federation of IndiaOrienteering Orienteering Federation of IndiaPelota Vasca Indian Pelota Vasca FederationPolo Indian Polo AssociationPowerboating Yachting Association of IndiaRacquetball Racquetball Association of IndiaRoller sports Roller Skating Federation of IndiaSumo Indian Sumo Wrestling AssociationTug of war Tug of War Federation of IndiaUnderwater sports Underwater Sports Association IndiaWakeboarding and Water skiing Wakeboard & Water Ski Federation of IndiaWushu Wushu Association of India
Others Following are some sports which IOC does not recognise as a Sport.
Sport National FederationArm Wrestling Indian Arm Wrestling FederationAtya Patya Atya Patya Federation of IndiaBall badminton Ball Badminton Federation of IndiaBall hockey Indian Ball Hockey FederationBodybuilding Indian Body Builders FederationCarrom All-India Carrom FederationDarts All Indian Darts AssociationEsports Esports Federation of IndiaFishing All India Game Fishing AssociationFistball Fistball Federation of IndiaFloor Tennis Floor Tennis Federation of IndiaFutsal All India Football FederationJu-jitsu Ju-jitsu Association of IndiaKabaddi Amateur Kabaddi Federation of IndiaKho Kho Kho Kho Federation of IndiaMixed martial artsMMA IndiaMallakhamb Mallakhamb Federation of IndiaPencak Silat Indian Pencak Silat FederationPowerlifting Indian Powerlifting FederationProfessional boxingIndian Professional Boxing AssociationSkipping rope Indian Rope Skipping FederationPetanque Petanque India AssociationRollball Roll Ball Federation of IndiaSepak Takraw Sepaktakraw Federation of IndiaRollball Roll Ball Federation of IndiaSoft tennis Amateur Soft Tennis Federation of IndiaTennikoit Tenni Koit Federation of IndiaYachting Yachting Association of India
Multi-sport events hosted by IOA 1951 Asian Games 1982 Asian Games 1987 South Asian Games 1995 South Asian Games 2003 Afro-Asian Games 2007 Military World Games 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games 2010 Commonwealth Games 2011 South Asian Winter Games 2014 Lusophony Games 2016 South Asian Games 2030 Commonwealth Games
Media image The IOA debuted a new logo and new campaign tag #EkIndiaTeamIndia in 2020, this was celebrated on India's independence day 15 August 2020. The previous logo was created in 1924 at the inception of the IOA, the logo emphasized the Star of India. Through symbols of the Tiraṅgā the new logo celebrates the pride, dignity and lifetime of determined hard work given by India's finest athletes. The logo was created by Smitten an international design firm founded in Chennai by Smita Rajgopal.