AGENCY
DUBAI: India’s Narinder Batra on Saturday became the first non-European President of the International Hockey Federation after he was elected to the top post by an overwhelming margin during the penultimate day of the 45th FIH Congress, here.
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 in the world body’s 92-year-old history.
Batra got 68 votes in his favour while Balbirnie and Read managed 29 and 13 votes respectively. Out of 118 voters, only 110 voted while eight abstained.
The voting was conducted via secret ballot through an electronic voting system.
Each delegation head of a National Association was provided with a tablet and a unique password by which they voted for their choice.(PTI)
