Harpal Singh Bedi / New Delhi

President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Narinder Batra, was elected IOC member at the 134th session of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne.,Switzerland on Wednesday. Batra secured 58 votes out of 62 while four voted against him.

With the election of Batra, the number of Indians who are currently active members of IOC has risen to two.Reliance Foundation Chairperson Nita Ambani was elected as an individual member of the IOC in 2016. She is the first Indian woman to be elected to the prestigious seat.

Former IOA Secretary General Randhir Singh served as a member of the IOC from 2001 to 2014 and has been made an honorary member since then.

Batra now has a rare distinction of becoming a member of the IOC, while heading a National Olympic Committee as well as an international federation. He is the first Indian to have this distinction.He has already become the first Indian to head an international federation of an Olympic sport — that of FIH.

Narinder Batra is also the President of the International Hockey Federation (FIH),.. While the appointment of Dr. Batra as candidate for this position was linked to his function as President of the IOA this is great news for hockey and its status within the international sports family. ,FIH said in a statement

“I feel both honored and energised to be charged with this high responsibility. I can assure everybody of my highest commitment to promote the Olympic values and develop sport globally. In addition to my passion for sport and my experience in the management of sport’s institutions, I’m also a firm believer that sport is one of the very few universal languages that has the power to unite people. I will make sure that the values of hockey, in particular our #EquallyAmazing principle, are always central to my work,” stated . Batra upon his election.

Batra was elected as FIH President at the 45th Congress in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in November 2016. He had been a member of the Executive Board since the 2014 FIH Congress. In 2014,

He was given the FIH President’s Award in recognition of his long and valuable services to hockey.Since December 2017, he has been the President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), a position for which he was elected thanks to his long-time involvement in the management of hockey in India, primarily.