Narinder Batra Resigns As President Of Indian Olympic Association

Narinder Batra Resigns: The development comes weeks after the CBI initiated a preliminary inquiry against Batra for alleged misappropriation of public funds.

Former Indian Olympic Association president Narinder Batra during a press conference

New Delhi: Indian Olympic Association president Narinder Batra resigned from his post on Wednesday. The development comes weeks after the CBI initiated a preliminary inquiry against him for alleged misappropriation of public funds. Batra, who is also the International Hockey Federation chief, has headed the IOA since 2017.

The CBI enquiry has also been initiated against unknown officials of Hockey India. It has been alleged that Batra misappropriated Rs 35 lakh of Hockey India (HI) for personal use.

The decision means that Batra's membership of International Olympic Committee will also come to an end as the position was linked to his IOA presidency. Batra was made an IOC member in 2019.

Batra said in a statement that he was not going to run for another term as president of the Indian Olympic Association. 

"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 International Hockey Federation (FIH) requires more time for all these activities," Batra said in a statement.

"Consequently, I've decided to not run for a further term as President of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA)," Batra further said.

In the statement, Batra further said the time had come for "someone coming with a fresh mind and new ideas" to takeover the role of IOA president.

"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 2036 Summer Olympics in India," said Batra.

"It's been a privilege and a tremendous honour to serve in my capacity as President of IOA throughout my term, I've been guided by one goal only: the good and the betterment of Indian sport," he said.

The elections to the Indian Olympic Association were due last December but they could not be held due to legal issues. A petition was filed in the Delhi High Court challenging its constituent. The plea alleged that it was not in sync with the National Sports Code and the International Olympic Committee charter.

(With inputs from agencies)