Former captain Dilip Tirkey, is the new Hockey India president.
The ace defender and three–time Olympian was elected unopposed as the new boss of Hockey India on Friday.
Tirkey was elected after Uttar Pradesh Hockey chief Rakesh Katyal and Hockey Jharkhand's Bhola Nath Singh, who were in the fray for the president's post, withdrew their nominations on Friday.
Bhola Nath has been elected unopposed as secretary general.
Dilip Tirkey is one of the most decorated hockey players in the country with as many as 412 caps. The 44-year-old, who led the hockey team in the past, was part of the Olympics teams in 1996, 2000 and 2004. He also was part of the Asia Cup-winning teams in 2003 and 2007.
Tirkey thanked the COA chief Dr. SY Quraishi, the global governing body of hockey, FIH, for the smooth electoral process and expressed confidence that he will be able to work for the betterment of hockey in the country.
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has approved Tirkey and his team's appointments. "when the number of contesting candidates for any post is equal to or less than the number of posts, they shall be deemed to have been elected unopposed as per election by-laws on the Hockey India website.
"With effect from today, 23 September 2022, we note that the CoA has concluded its mandate, and the FIH will now communicate directly with the newly-elected Executive Board for matters pertaining to Hockey in India.
"Therefore, we are pleased to observe that the Executive Board of Hockey India stands elected as has been put on the website of Hockey India and that the posts election was unanimous for all posts," it said.
We again thank you for your efforts and hope you will all be our guests for the upcoming Pro League matches which are scheduled to commence from 28 October 2022 and the World Cup which is scheduled to commence from 13 January 2023," the FIH said in a letter.
The Hockey India elections were mandated to be completed by October 9 by FIH and a court-appointed Committee of Administrators which was overseeing the operations of Hockey India after the Delhi High Court stepped in over an alleged violation of the National Sports Code.
The elections were scheduled to be held on October 1 but the results were declared in advance as there were no contestants for any of the posts, paving the way for the incumbent candidates to be elected unopposed as per the federation's Constitution.
Office Bearers
President - Dilip Tirkey ( Odisha);
Vice-president (female) - Asima Ali ( J and K) Vice-president (male) - S.V.S. Subramanya
( Karnataka);
Secretary-General - Bhola Nath Singh (Jharkhand);
Treasurer - Sekar J Manoharan (Tamil Nadu); Joint secretary (female) - Ms Arti Singh ( Rajasthan); Joint secretary (male) - Sunil Malik ( Haryana).
Executive Board Members: Arun Kumar Saraswat ( Rajasthan); Asrita Lakra (Jharkhand); Gurpreet Kaur ( Delhi); V Sunil Kumar (Kerala ); Tapan Kumar Das (Assam ).