Harpal Singh Bedi / New Delhi
As CBI filed corruption cases against him ,Narinder Batra on Monday formally resigned as president of Indian Olympic association (IOA) and also quit as the member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and president of International Hockey Federation (FIH) president,
Though he had ceased to be president of the IOA on May 25, as per the orders of the Delhi High Court, Batra wrote a letter to the IOA secretary-general saying he was resigning from the post of president.
In a brief hand written letter which he emailed to the executive board of the FIH, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, Batra said , “Due to personal reasons, I submit my resignation from the post of president, FIH. Thank you for your support and guidance.”
In his letter to the IOC president Thomas Bach in Lausanne, he again cited personal reasons for stepping down from the post. “Due to personal reasons, I submit my resignation from the post of IOC member,”
Batra became member of the IOC in 2019 and was re- elected as the FIH president for the second term in May 2021
Meanwhile in a statement from Lausanne the FIH said “Dr Narinder Dhruv Batra has today informed the Members of the Executive Board (EB) of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) of his resignation from the post of FIH President which he currently holds.
As stipulated in the FIH Statutes (Article 7.4 a), “the Executive Board shall appoint an acting President to hold office until the FIH Congress appoints a person to fill the vacancy”.
Therefore, a meeting of the EB will be organised as soon as possible.
In accordance with the same article, the next Presidential elections will take place during the upcoming FIH Congress which is planned to be held virtually on 4 and 5 November this year.