55th NOC Executive Board Meeting Holds

Iran NOC; Tehran: Secretary General Dr. Mehdi Alinejad briefed reporters following the session on the key decisions adopted. He announced that the NOC General Assembly will convene on December 31, In line with the statutes, the agenda will be distributed one month prior to the meeting. Dr. Alinejad also confirmed that the elections for the Athletes’ Commission will take place on December 18. He noted that the previous elections were held on November 12, four years ago, but as this year’s Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh fall in November, the elections have been rescheduled. He emphasized that the Athletes’ Commission is the only electoral commission of the NOC, and only athletes who have competed in the Olympics or Asian Games, or have won medals, are eligible to participate.

Further decisions included adjustments to the composition of the NOC General Assembly. The Rowing Federation, recently established, was admitted as an Olympic federation member. The Martial Arts Federation also gained membership, as MMA—under its umbrella—will be part of the Nagoya Asian Games. Additionally, the Squash Federation was promoted from Group 2 to Group 1, following the sport’s inclusion in the Olympic program, granting its president eligibility to run for the Executive Board. Conversely, the Chess Federation was removed from the Assembly due to its exclusion from the upcoming Asian Games.

Regarding upcoming competitions, Dr. Alinejad confirmed that the sports to be sent to the 2025 Asian Youth Games in Bahrain have been finalized and submitted to the organizing committee. For the Islamic Solidarity Games, the quota system is still pending confirmation from the organizers, which he said is causing delays. He underlined the NOC’s performance-oriented approach toward the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya: “the priority for men is to secure medals, while for women the goal is to achieve top-six finishes”. He added that evaluations of federations are ongoing, with ten federations already reviewed, and that comprehensive assessments will be concluded within the next six to seven months.