Narinder Batra becomes first Indian president of FIHNarinder Batra becomes first Indian president of FIH

Narinder Batra on Saturday became the first Indian to be elected the president of the International Hockey Federation after he was voted to the top post by an overwhelming margin during the penultimate day of the 45th FIH Congress.

Batra, who is the president of Hockey India, defeated David Balbirnie of Ireland and Australia’s Ken Read to become the 12th FIH president – the first Asian to grab the post.

Batra got 68 votes in his favour while Balbirnie and Read managed 29 and 13 votes respectively.

The voting was conducted via secret ballot through an electronic voting system