The PIO representation in Indian sports refers to the participation of People of Indian Origin (PIOs) and including Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) in international events of both senior and junior level representing the Republic of India. As India prohibits dual nationality, sports representation in international events with respect to Indian participation has generally followed the norm of selection of sportspeople of Indian nationality. Despite this due to the ambiguity of representation law till 2008, many PIO sportspeople have represented India at international events.

History

In India however, the National sports representation law stems from a circular issued by the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs in December 2008, wherein it directed all national sports federations that any sportsperson representing India at the international level must hold a valid Indian passport.[1] The rule was upheld in 2010 by the Delhi High Court in the Karm Kumar vs Union Of India and Ors.[2]

The Indian law, with respect to the eligibility of PIOs representing India stands at odds with the eligibility criteria for national representation of any sports governing bodies since 2008 when the current regulations were enforced and PIO representation was abolished. Before 2008 order and 2011 enactment of Indian Sports Code, due to ambiguity and lack of any sports law in the country with respect to player representation in international events, many PIO sportspeople had represented India in certain sports such as tennis, winter sports etc.[3][4]

PIO sportspeople representing India

This is a list of PIO sportspeople (both men and women) who have represented or are currently representing India in any sport at international level.

  • Players of Indian origin, who represented India while retaining their original nationality.
  • Players of Indian origin, who represented India while or after giving up their original nationality and taking up Indian citizenship.

Note:

  • Representation after 2008: Despite the 2008 rule change, a handful of PIOs continued to represent India in certain individual sports such as tennis, winter sports, badminton etc., but this continued without Indian sports federations' support and also international rules for national representation remained unchanged. But while they represented India on an individual capacity at the international events, due to the withdrawal of the Indian sports federations' administrative and financial support, they remained ineligible to represent India at multi-sport events such as Olympics, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games.
  • Dual citizenship for minors: Dual citizenship in India is allowed in certain cases of minor children, as those who are born outside the territory of India can obtain Indian citizenship through descent (by Section 4 of The Citizenship Act, 1955) as well as of the foreign country (by Jus soli, e.g. United States). Thus the minors in such cases can remain dual citizens till 18 upon which they will have to choose only one citizenship.[5] This has enabled some minor PIOs to represent India post 2008, but will become ineligible if they choose the foreign citizenship upon attaining majority.
Color key
  •   Acquired Indian nationality

Cricket

SportspersonNationalityYearsNotable eventsRef
Lall Singh  Malaysia 1932 [6]
Robin Singh  Trinidad and Tobago 1989–2001 Cricket World Cup [7]

Football

SportspersonNationalityYearsNotable eventsRef
Balai Dey  Pakistan 1969–1970 Merdeka Tournament [8]
Arata Izumi  Japan 2013–2014 AFC Challenge Cup, SAFF Championship [9]

Field hockey

SportspersonNationalityYearsNotable eventsRef
Trevor Fernandes  Tanzania 1971–1973 [10]

Tennis

SportspersonNationalityYearsNotable eventsRef
Prakash Amritraj  United States 2002–2013 Grand Slams, Davis Cup [11]
Stephen Amritraj  United States 2003–2008 [12]
Shikha Uberoi  United States 2005–2011 Asian Games, Fed Cup [13]
Sunitha Rao  United States 2007–2009 Summer Olympics, Fed Cup [14]

Figure skating

SportspersonNationalityYearsNotable eventsRef
Ami Parekh  United States 2006–2014 Worlds, Four Continents [15]
Amar Mehta  United States 2007 World Juniors [16]
Yoniko Eva Washington  United States 2008–2010 Worlds [17]
Anavi Tekriwal  United States 2013 [18]
Shreya Saha Dalal  United States 2015 [19]
Arunima Verabelli  United States 2017 [20]
Tara Prasad  United States 2020– Four Continents [21]

Squash

SportspersonNationalityYearsNotable eventsRef
Karm Kumar  United Kingdom 2006 Asian Junior Championships [1]

Shooting

SportspersonNationalityYearsNotable eventsRef
Sohrab Singh Gill  United States 2007 Asian Championships [22]

Badminton

SportspersonNationalityYearsNotable eventsRef
Srivedya Gurazada  United States 2019–2022 [23]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "A fight for the right to play for India". Hindustan Times. 23 December 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  2. ↑ "Karm Kumar vs Union Of India & Ors on 3 August, 2010". Indian Kanoon. 3 August 2010. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  3. ↑ "Government slams door on PIO, OCI players". The Times of India. 26 December 2008. Archived from the original on 1 April 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  4. ↑ "Government slams door on PIO, OCI players". India Today. 26 December 2008.
  5. ↑ "Passport_Manual_16_Chapters_to_be_disclosed" (PDF). Passport_Manual_16_Chapters_to_be_disclosed. 27 November 2023.
  6. ↑ "Lall Singh". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  7. ↑ "Robin Singh". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 22 December 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  8. ↑ Basu, Jaydeep (13 August 2022). "Indian Football: Balai Dey, the Mohun Bagan legend who played for both India and Pakistan". scroll.in. Scroll. Archived from the original on 13 August 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  9. ↑ NDTV, Indo-Asian News Service (29 January 2013). "Arata Izumi becomes first foreign national to be selected for Indian football team". sports.ndtv.com. NDTV Sport. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2013.
  10. ↑ Mergulhao, Marcus (4 October 2021). "Trevor Fernandes: The hockey star from Zanzibar who won many Indian hearts". The Times of India. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  11. ↑ "Prakash Amritraj". ATP. Archived from the original on 3 October 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  12. ↑ "Stephen Amritraj". ATP. Archived from the original on 28 July 2021. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  13. ↑ "Shikha Uberoi". WTA. Archived from the original on 31 July 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  14. ↑ "Sunitha Rao". WTA. Archived from the original on 22 June 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  15. ↑ "Ami Parekh". ISU. Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  16. ↑ "Amar Mehta". ISU. Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  17. ↑ "Yoniko Eva Washington". ISU. Archived from the original on 20 August 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  18. ↑ "Anavi Tekriwal". ISU. Archived from the original on 21 August 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  19. ↑ "Shreya Saha Dalal". ISU. Archived from the original on 21 August 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  20. ↑ "Arunima Verabelli". ISU. Archived from the original on 22 August 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  21. ↑ "Tara Prasad". ISU. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  22. ↑ "Sorab Singh Gill". ISSF. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  23. ↑ "Srivedya Gurazada". BWF. Archived from the original on 21 March 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
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