The State Olympic Associations (SOAs) will meet Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president PT Usha in New Delhi on Monday.

The SOAs had sought a meeting with Usha regarding issues bothering the former and the legendary athlete agreed to a discussion.

No other IOA office bearers are expected to be present in the meeting. “They want to have a chat with the president why should there be other office-bearers?” a senior official told The Telegraph on Sunday.

The IOA is in the middle of a bitter power battle as most of the executive committee members do not endorse Usha’s style of functioning.

From the appointment of Raghuram Iyer as the chief executive officer to preparations for the Paris Olympic Games, the president and the executive committee are at loggerheads on everything.

This meeting with the SOAs will also help the Rajya Sabha MP to send a message to her detractors. “That she is doing everything for the betterment of sports, that she is a keen listener and wants to work in a democratic set-up, while her opponents are acting as rabble-rousers,” the official said.

It has been learnt Usha wants to celebrate the Olympic Day on June 23 in a big way and for that SOAs will have to play an active role.

“Last year she had just become the top boss (Usha took over the reins in December 2022) so the Olympic Day could not be celebrated with much fanfare. This year she wants it to be big,” the official said.

The World Olympic Day is primarily a day of promoting the Olympic idea. The 2024 Olympic Games begins in Paris on July 26.

IOA’s new constitution has taken away the voting rights of the SOAs and made them associate members, turning them into toothless bodies. “There are still many issues of state Olympic Associations which are unanswered,” the mail to Usha had said.

“But the SOAs have a rich legacy. Some SOAs were formed even before IOA’s birth. So being made associate members is a major setback for us.

“Apart from discussing how to go about the Olympic Day celebrations, we will raise this issue with the president,” Namdev Shirgaonkar, secretary-general of the Maharashtra Olympic Association, said.

“Given the size of our country, the NOC (the National Olympic Committee) should have more members. But that is not the case now. Even the NOCs of our neighbouring countries have more strength. Forget first-world countries like US, France or Japan,” Shirgaonkar said.

In the earlier days, the IOA used to disburse funds to the SOAs to celebrate the Olympic Day. But now as associate members whether the state bodies would be eligible for funds was also not clear.

“We will know tomorrow (Monday) about that. We have a lot of questions to ask, and we have confidence in IOA president,” Shirgaonkar said.

The SOAs had a meeting with Usha during the Goa National Games last year. “That was more of an introductory,” he informed.

The state associations met virtually on Saturday to discuss the way forward.

Bengal Olympic Association president Swapan (Babun) Banerjee will attend the meeting.