India’s celebrated player Nasser Hussain was elected as a Rugby India, Sportsperson of Outstanding Merit (SOM) at the recently held Indian Rugby Football Union’s SOM elections.
Nasser, former Captain of the Indian National Rugby team, secured 39 out of the 40 votes to clinch his spot as an SOM and become a member of the Rugby India General body.
Testament to being elected as a sportsperson of outstanding merit, Nasser’s international career spanned 17 years (from 1998 to 2014), 10 years as Captain (from 2004 to 2013) with 142 matches for India across both the Rugby 7s and Rugby 15s formats. Besides captaining India to 2 Asian Games (Qatar, 2006 & China, 2010) and 1 Commonwealth Games (Delhi, 2010), Nasser is the most capped Indian player till date and also the highest Try scorer for the country – scoring 18 tries in Rugby 15s.
Joining Nasser in the General Body, as SOMs, are Thimmaiah M. P., who secured 28 votes in the men’s category, and Avani Sabade and Surabhi Surendra Date, who received 34 votes each in the women’s category.
Under the National Sports Governance Act, 2025 and the National Sports Governance (National Sports Bodies) Rules, 2026, national sports bodies must include at least four SOM representatives in their General Bodies, with equal representation for men and women. These provisions form part of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports’ wider reforms to strengthen athlete participation, transparency and accountability in sports administration.
The SOM category enables eligible retired sportspersons to be elected as voting members of their national federation’s General Body, giving former players a formal say in how their sport is governed. In Indian rugby, the four elected SOM members will exercise these voting rights within the IRFU General Body. Nasser, known for his strategic play-making and fancy footwork on the rugby field is following in his father, Aga Hussain’s footsteps (former President, Asia Rugby and Rugby India Founder & former Vice-President). Will we now see Nasser making some moves off the field…?
Nasser Hussain