Narinder Batra to step down as Indian Olympic Association president at the end of term
The incumbent chief said he wanted to focus more on his role as the president of the international hockey federation (FIH).
Narinder Batra will step down as the president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) at the end of his term to focus more on his job as the head of the International Hockey Federation (FIH).
The 65-year-old Batra took charge of the IOA for the first time in 2017 and was eligible to contest for reelection.
“At a time when world hockey is going through an essential development phase, with the promotion of Hockey5s, the creation of a new competition this year – the FIH Hockey Nations Cup – and the launch of fan-engaging platforms and activities, my role as president of the FIH requires more time,” Batra said on Wednesday.
“Consequently, I’ve decided to not run for a further term as president of the IOA,” Narinder Batra said.
Apart from being the IOA president, Batra was inducted into the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as a member in 2019 and later went on to become a member of the Olympic Channel Commission.
During Batra’s tenure, India enjoyed their most successful Olympics campaign at Tokyo 2020 and returned with seven medals, including Neeraj Chopra’s gold in the javelin throw event.
“I feel that the time has come for me to leave this role to someone coming with a fresh mind and new ideas to take Indian sports to much much greater heights and also go all out to work to get the 2036 Summer Olympics in India,” Narinder Batra added.
The IOA elections were due in December last year but could not be held as per schedule due to ongoing amendments in the election process.