Dilip Tirkey elected Hockey India president

Dilip Tirkey, a former India hockey captain and member of the gold medal-winning team at the 1998 Asian Games, was unanimously elected as Hockey India (HI) president. First time in history, a former sportsperson and an Olympian has gone on to head the national body. Tirkey, 44, has a record 412 international matches as a defender in his career spanning more than 15 years. He represented India at the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996, Sydney in 2000, and Athens in 2004. The Hockey India elections were supposed to be completed by October 9, according to the deadline set in August by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) and the Committee of Administrators (CoA).Prior to Tirkey's election as president, Hockey India was subject to the COA's jurisdiction on the orders of the Delhi High Court due to an alleged violation of the National Sports Act.

HI office-bearers: President – Dilip Tirkey (Hockey Association of Odisha); Vice-president (female) – Asima Ali (Hockey Jammu & Kashmir); Vice-president (male) – S.V.S. Subramanya (Hockey Karnataka); Secretary-General – Bhola Nath Singh (Hockey Jharkhand); Treasurer – Sekar J Manoharan (Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu); Joint secretary (female) – Ms Arti Singh (Hockey Rajasthan); Joint secretary (male) – Sunil Malik (Hockey Haryana). Executive Board Members: Arun Kumar Saraswat (Hockey Rajasthan); Asrita Lakra (Hockey Jharkhand); Gurpreet Kaur (Hockey Delhi); V Sunil Kumar (Kerala Hockey); Tapan Kumar Das (Assam Hockey).