Govt to NSFs: Identify OCI athletes to shore up India’s Olympic ambitions

NEW DELHI: The govt is actively considering bringing in Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) card holders to play for the tricolour to shore up the country’s medal fortunes at the forthcoming edition of the Olympics, according to its 10-year strategic plan for the Games, TOI has learnt.

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Under the plan, OCI or Person of Indian Origin (PIO) athletes would be approached through their respective national sports federations (NSFs) to come and play for India. The govt has encouraged the NSFs to pursue the idea and get in touch with such athletes in their respective sports.




The proposal was mooted at a recent Sports Governance Conclave in Ahmedabad, where ministry officials gave a detailed presentation on India’s sporting ambitions for coming years and how to transform the nation into a global sporting powerhouse such as China and USA. The idea was to bring such OCI or PIO athletes to play for India as an ‘interim measure’.

“Talking about ‘Play for India’, in certain sports we don’t have enough talent. In such cases, we can approach and bring in our OCI athletes to play for the country. This may not be needed in every sport but, in some sports, it may be required as an interim measure. This is possible,” union sports secretary Hari Ranjan Rao told the NSFs’ presidents and secretaries who attended the conclave.


It’s been learnt the govt has targeted sports such as football, tennis, swimming and athletics for OCI athletes. Recently, Australian-born footballer Ryan Williams of Indian descent became eligible to play for India by giving up his Australian citizenship for an Indian passport.

In 2008, an order from the ministry of youth affairs and sports (MYAS) issued in Dec directed all NSFs to permit only sportspersons with a valid Indian passport to represent the country at international events. As a result, only Indian passport holders were eligible to compete for India. This regulation was later challenged by UK-based OCI card holder squash player Karm Kumar, but the Delhi high court upheld the rule in 2010.

“The idea has been deliberated upon (to reverse the policy to allow OCI or PIO athletes to represent India). There are certain sports where India isn’t a force to reckon with. The govt wants to strengthen such disciplines to boost the country’s sporting ecosystem,” a source added.

In the past, Indian-origin athletes such as tennis player Prakash Amritraj (nationality United States), Shikha Uberoi (USA), Sunitha Rao (USA), squash player Karm Kumar (UK) and swimmer Ankur Poseria (USA), among others, represented India as OCI card holders before the policy change kicked in.


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