Lausanne, Switzerland, May 22, 2021: The President of the Indian Olympic Association, IOC Member Dr Narinder Dhruv Batra, was re-elected President of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) at the 47th FIH Congress held virtually on Saturday, May 22.
In the closest of votes, Dr Batra was re-elected FIH President for a second four-year term through to 2024.
Of the 124 votes submitted by member National Associations, Dr Batra attained the required absolute majority of more than half the votes, receiving 63 votes to the 61 given to Marc Coudron of Belgium.
“I would personally like to thank all of the National Associations for showing faith in me by electing me for a second term as President of FIH”, said Dr Batra, who congratulated Marc Coudron on his campaign.
“I pledge my assurance to you all that I will work towards my election priorities over the next three years.”
In other news from the congress:
*Tayyab Ikram and Erik Cornelissen were re-elected unopposed to the FIH Executive Board as men’s members.
*The Congress approved applications for membership from three National Associations to take the total membership to 140: Timor Leste, Saudi Arabia and Gambia.
*A vote on the admission as FIH Member of a new National Association in Indonesia, which is recognised by the Indonesian NOC, was unable to proceed as Congress did not ratify the decision to expel the current National Association, which had not fulfilled their obligations.
*The FIH President’s Award was presented to 10 hockey dignitaries, including: Pawan Munjal (Hero Honda Motors-Hero Motocorp), Shri. V Karthikeya Pandian (Private Secretary, Chief Minister of Odisha), Motohito Yoshida (Honorary President, Asian Hockey Federation, former President, Japan Hockey Association) and Kim Myung Sung (Executive Board member, AHF, Vice President, Korean Hockey Association).
Source: https://www.fih.ch