The Indian Olympic Association was granted until December 15 to stage its quadrennial elections to avoid IOC suspension ©Getty Images

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board has observed "significant progress" here to address its concerns at the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), with a final decision on whether it has avoided suspension to be taken after elections later this week.

This will have implications for next year's IOC Session which is due to take place in Mumbai in September or October, having been pushed back when the IOA was issued a "final warning" over persistent governance issues at the last Executive Board meeting in September.

Requirements to avoid suspension included the IOA operating through its Executive Committee and General Assembly and staging its quadrennial elections, which were supposed to take place in December 2021 but have been held up by a court case.

The Executive Board received a report on the IOA's position today, and an IOC statement said it had taken "note of the significant progress made over the past few weeks to implement the agreed roadmap, including the adoption of the revised IOA Constitution aimed at improving its internal governance - in close coordination with the former judge appointed by the Supreme Court of India to monitor the whole process - and in line with the IOC EB directives and decision taken in September".

However, it said the elections on Saturday (December 10) form "the very last step of the process", and will wait until their conclusion before taking a final stance.

The Executive Board delegated responsibility for confirming the IOC's position and whether the 2023 Session will take place in Mumbai to the IOC administration.

The IOC Executive Board observed
The IOC Executive Board observed "significant progress" at the Indian Olympic Association ©IOC/Greg Martin

Former sprinter PT Usha is set to become the IOA's first female President on Saturday after being confirmed as the only candidate for the role.

She would succeed Narinder Batra who stood down as leader of both the IOA and the International Hockey Federation in July, citing personal reasons.

Anil Khanna and Adille Sumariwalla have both claimed to be leading the IOA since Batra quit.

A new Executive Committee is also set to be elected on Saturday.

A deadline of December 15 had been set by the IOC Executive Board for the IOA to stage the elections.

Mumbai was awarded hosting rights for the 2023 IOC Session in February of this year, with India having previously only held the gathering in New Delhi in 1983.