Narinder Batra has been elected the first Indian president of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) on Saturday. The announcement came during the 45th FIH congress in Dubai.
Batra, who is also the Hockey India chief, received 68 votes, way more than his nearest competitors David Balbirnie (29 votes) of Ireland and Ken Read (13 votes) of Australia.
The 59-year-old, who became the Hockey India president in October 2014, now succeeds Spain's Leandro Negre as the 12th FIH president. He is incidentally also the first Asian to grab the coveted post.
The election process was conducted via secret ballot through an electronic voting system, where the chief of hockey federations around the world voted for their preferred candidate.
The moment Dr. Narinder Batra was announced as the new FIH President! #HockeyRevolution @TheHockeyIndia @asia_hockey pic.twitter.com/4YWCpsqNro
— FIH (@FIH_Hockey) November 12, 2016
