IOA and FIH chief Narinder Batra set to become IOC member

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and International Hockey Federation (FIH) President, Narinder Batra is set to be elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee by the executive board of the world sport's apex body. PTI reported that the Executive Board of the IOC submitted IOC Session—that will meet in June in Lausanne— a proposal to elect Batra and 9 other new members on Wednesday. They will go to vote for the seat on June 26. IOC in a statement, as per the PTI reports, added: "Seven of the 10 proposed new members are individual members, while there are three candidatures linked to a function within a National Olympic Committee (NOC) or a Continental Association of NOCs." IOC also stated that the appointment of 10 new member would take the total count of IOC members to 105. Batra is one of the three names proposed to be elected due to his or her links with NOC. All the proposed names were recommended by the IOC Ethics Commission after the committee conducted thorough integrity checks. Should Batra get elected, he will become the only the second active members of IOC from India. He will join Nita Ambani, who was elected 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 also served as a member of IOC between 2001 and 2014 before being made an honorary member. Batra has a golden chance to add another feather to his cap. He will have a shot at achieving a rare distinction; being elected as 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. The seven proposed Individual Members are: Ntsama Epse Engoulou (Cameroon), Spyros Capralos (Greece), Laura Chinchilla (Costa Rica), Matlohang Moiloa-Ramoqopo (Lesotho), Filomena Africano Fortes (Cape Verde), Tidjane Thiam (Ivory Coast), Erick Thohir (Indonesia) while the other two names related to their position in a NOC are Mustapha Berraf (President of Algerian NOC) and Kee Heung Lee (President of Korean Sport & Olympic Committee). Hockey India, of which Batra was a long time president, congratulated him on being proposed to be elected as an individual member of the IOC. “It is a befitting honour to a man who has been instrumental in sports administration in India and as the former President of Hockey India Dr Batra paved the way for revival of Hockey in the country,” HI President Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad said. “While Indian sports is climbing higher echelons with improved performances at the world level, having him as a Member in the IOC will prove beneficial for sports in the country. I wish him the very best in this new endeavour,” he said.