New Delhi: On Wednesday January 8 2025 long-jump legend Anju Bobby George was appointed Chairperson of the Athletics Federation of Indias newly formed nine-member athletes commission. The commission includes six women with javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra being the standout male representative. The newly formed panel also includes female athletes like sprinter Jyotirmoyee Sikdar discus thrower Krishna Poonia hurdler M.D. Valsamma steeplechaser Sudha Singh and middle-distance runner Sunita Rani. Anju Bobby George a bronze medalist at the 2003 World Championships also serves as the Senior Vice-President of the Athletics Federation of India. All members of the newly formed commission are retired athletes marking a significant step towards gender equality within the Athletics Federation of India. The previous panel had four women. This new commission was revealed on January 8 2025 following elections held in October 2024. Neeraj Chopra a two-time Olympic medalist is among the four nominated members following discussions by the AFIs Executive Council. The other two male members of the Commission are 3000m steeplechaser Avinash Sable and Bahadur Singh Sagoo the newly-elected AFI president who won a shot put gold at the 2002 Asian Games. Sagoo previously chaired the earlier Commission. Former AFI treasurer Madhu Kant Pathak who served as the Returning Officer for the elections stated that the elections were conducted in accordance with the proper procedures. Election notification was issued and other rules and regulations were followed. Five members were elected. Later after consultation with the Executive Council four members including Neeraj and Sable were added as Athletes Commission member. Both Neeraj and Sable initially said that they will not be able to give much time as they are active athletes but they accepted said Pathak. Sumariwalla made ex-officio member: Former AFI President Adille Sumariwalla will remain on the executive council in an ex-officio capacity given his position on the World Athletics Council. The 67-year-old who held the role of AFI president for three consecutive terms starting in 2012 currently serves as an executive board member of World Athletics the global governing body for the sport. We amended the AFI constitution last year to the effect that any person who is in the World Athletics council will be an ex-officio member of the AFI executive council AFI Planning Commission Chairman Lalit Bhanot announced on the concluding day of the Annual General Body Meeting here. On Tuesday (Jan. 7) Sumariwalla confirmed his continued presence expressing that he would stay on to mentor the new office-bearers of the AFI and serve as the organizations spokesperson. On Wednesday (Jan. 8) Sagoo revealed that Sumariwalla would also chair the committee responsible for liaising with both the government and international organizations. Furthermore he will be part of the AFIs Ethics Commission. Domestic schedule: In a separate development the Federation Cup which marks the opening major national senior athletics event of the year will take place in Kozhikode Kerala from April 21-24. Initially scheduled to be held in Panchkula Haryana the venue was changed after the city indicated it could not host the event having already organized the National Inter-State Championships in June of the previous year. The National Inter-State Senior Championships for this year are set to take place in Chennai from August 20 to 24 according to the provisional schedule. Meanwhile the National Open Championships which were initially planned for Pune or Bengaluru will now be held in Ranchi from September 27 to 30.