Arjuna Award Lifetime
Department of Sports
Home >> OnGoing Nominations >> Arjuna Award Lifetime
17/02/2026
Nomination Start Date
05/03/2026
Nomination End Date
Announcement Date
Arjuna Award Lifetime
Eligibility
Decoration
No. of Awardees
Who can nominate ?
Selection Process
Ceremony Details
Notifications
Arjuna Award Lifetime
- To honour and motivate those sportspersons who have contributed to sports by their performance and continue to contribute to promotion of sports even after their retirement from active sporting career
Eligibility
To be eligible for the Award, a sportsperson should have had not only good performance over the previous four years at the international level but also should have shown qualities of leadership, sportsmanship, and a sense of discipline. During the years when Olympic Games, Commonwealth, and Asian Games are held, the achievements of the sportspersons in these Games and other international tournaments up to the conclusion of the Olympic Games/Commonwealth Games/Asian Games, as the ease maybe will also be considered.
Sportspersons who have been penalized or against whom enquiry is pending/ongoing for use of drugs/substances banned by the Word Anti Doping Agency (WADA) based on a sample collected by the National Anti Doping Agency (NADA) or any other agency authorized by WADA and tested by National Dope Testing Laboratory or any other WADA accredited laboratory, will not be eligible for the Award.
The Government will only consider conferring Arjuna Award in the disciplines falling under the following categories:-
- Olympic Games/Asian Games/Commonwealth Games/World Cup/World Championship disciplines and cricket or any equivalent recognized international Tournament.
- Indigenous Games.
- Sports for physically challenged
Decoration
The Award consists of a statuette, a certificate, a ceremonial dress, and a cash Award of Rs. 15.00 lakhs which will be presented to the winners at a function to be held at a place and on a date to be decided by the Government of India.
No Award will be made for a second tie to the same person. The Award may be given posthumously if such an occasion arises.
No. of Awardees
1.Ordinarily, not more than one award will be given in each discipline in a particular year subject to deserving sportspersons being available. However, at least one award is to be given exclusively for sports for the physically challenged. Further, the principle of one award per discipline may be relaxed in the case of team sports and across gender. That is to say that, the Selection Committee may recommend, in deserving cases with proper justification, more than one sportsperson in respect of team sports and sportspersons of both genders.
2. Normally not more than 15 awards could be given in any calendar year. However, keeping in view the performance of Indian sportspersons in the Commonwealth, Asian Games, and Olympic Games during a particular year and for the reasons given in para above, Arjuna Awards exceeding 15 in number may be allowed with proper justification and approval of the Minister-in-charge for Youth Affairs & Sports
Who can nominate ?
Any Indian who associated with Sports Can Nominate Self
Selection Process
1. The Award will be decided by a Selection Committee constituted by the Government of India as under:-
|
1. |
Chairperson |
A retired judge of Supreme Court/High Court |
|
2. |
Sportspersons of eminence (Olympians or previous Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna or Arjuna Awardees) |
4 members |
|
3. |
Sports Journalists/Experts/Commentators |
3 members |
|
4. |
A sportsperson of eminence/sports administrator/sports expert belonging to para sports |
1 member |
|
5. |
Chief Executive Officer (CHO), Target Olympic Podium (TOP) Scheme Secretariat |
Ex-officio member |
|
6. |
Executive Director (TEAMS)/Officer in-charge of TEAMS Division , Sports Anthony of India |
Ex-officio member |
|
7. |
Joint Secretary (Sports), Department of Sports |
Member Secretary |
2. There should be minimum two years of gap before a member other than ex-officio is re- nominated as chairperson or member in the Selection Committee.
3. Not more than one sportsperson of eminence from a particular sports discipline shall be a member of the Selection Committee to avoid any bias in favor of a particular discipline.
4. A statement of achievements of all those sportspersons, who fulfill eligibility criteria and whose nominations have been received before last date, will be sent to the members of the Selection Committee at least a week in advance before the meeting of the Selection Committee.
5. The Chairperson, in consultation with the Member Secretary, may constitute panels from against the members of the Committee to assist the Committee.
6. The Chairperson may seek the advice of experts in specific sports disciplines, wherever necessary.
7. Shortlisted nominations from team games may be sent to experts at least a week in advance for their views. The experts may also be asked to attend Selection Committee meetings to clarify the doubts of members. The evaluation criteria may include international recognition, goals scored, player of the match/player of the tournament award, etc.
8. Any person directly or indirectly related to a sportsperson nominated for the Awards shall not be eligible to participate in deliberations of the Selection Committee, concerning the sportsperson.
9. The Committee will determine its own work procedure and will keep in view the guidelines/criteria, if my, framed by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports. Members of the Selection Committee will give their recommendations as per the provisions of the scheme and the marks criteria of the scheme.
10. The quorum for the meeting of the Committee shall be 75% of the members of the Committee and the Chairperson.
11. The Committee shall select the Award winners by consensus failing which by a majority decision and give its report to the Government of India within 15 days of reference.
12. The Executive Director (TEAMS)/Director (TEAMS), Sports Authority of India will be present at the time of deliberations of the Committee in order to provide information/clarifications, if any, required by the Committee.
13. All the selection proceedings will be treated as "Confidential". The Chairperson may take necessary steps in consultation with the Member Secretary to maintain strict confidentiality of the deliberations and selection made by the Committee.