The captain of the Iranian national volleyball team successfully passed the second round of requirements that would determine his eligibility as a candidate for the election to the IOC Athletes' Commission, and will now officially represent Iran among other candidates.

This stage included a test administered by the International Olympic Committee that confirmed Saeid Marouf’s full eligibility to run for IOC Athletes' Commission election.

The IOC Athletes' Commission is a body maintained by the International Olympic Committee for the purpose of representing athletes. Established in 1981, its function is to act as "the link between active athletes and the IOC."

The Commission meets once or twice a year, and organizes an Athletes' Forum once every two years.

An election for Commission members is held at each edition of the Olympic Games, with members being chosen by a secret ballot of the athletes competing at those Games.

Four or five members are elected at each Summer Games and two or three at each Winter Games. They replace the group that was elected at the Games of the same series eight years earlier.

Marouf’s candidacy makes Iran’s first serious presence at the election to IOC Athletes' Commission. Iran has had no representative at this Commission so far.

The International Olympic Committee is a not-for-profit independent international organization made up of volunteers, which is committed to building a better world through sport. It redistributes more than 90 percent of its income to the wider sporting movement.