Former India captain and Odisha Olympian Dilip Tirkey was elected unopposed as the President of Hockey India today. Hockey India 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.

Tirkey was elected after Uttar Pradesh Hockey chief Rakesh Katyal and Bhola Nath Singh (Hockey Jharkhand), who were also in the fray for the president post, withdrew their nominations earlier today. Bhola Nath and Sekar J Manoharan (Tamil Nadu) were also elected unopposed as Hockey India Secretary General and Treasurer respectively.

International Hockey Federation (FIH) has approved the appointments of Tirkey and his team.  In a letter, the FIH said that 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.

"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 are delighted that the election process has been completed and a democratic body is now in place. We extend our congratulations to Dr Dilip Tirkey, Bhola Nath Singh and Sekar J Manoharan and look forward to working with them closely," it added.

Tirkey took to twitter to thank the CoA and FIH and said he will work towards taking Indian hockey to the next level. "I will ensure that Indian hockey reaches to new heights," he tweeted.

The other non-contested members of Hockey India are Asima Ali (Vice-President) of Hockey Jammu & Kashmir, SVS Subramanya Gupta (Vice-President) of Karnataka, Arti Singh (Joint-Secretary) of Hockey Rajasthan and Sunil Malik (Joint-Secretary) of Hockey Haryana.

The five executive board members are: Arun Kumar Sarswat (Hockey Rajasthan), Asrita Lakra (Hockey Jharkhand), Gurpreet Kaur (Delhi Hockey), V Sunil Kumar (Kerala Hockey) and Tapan Kumar Das (Assam Hockey).

Tirkey played 412 international matches (the highest by an Indian) in his career spanning from 1995 to 2009. After retiring from the sport, Tirkey, a former Indian Airlines employee, took to politics and became a Rajya Sabha Member of Biju Janta Dal. He also contested for Sundargarh Lok Sabha seat, but lost to BJP opponent Jual Oram in 2014.

Tirkey became an administrator when he was appointed as Chairman of Odisha Tourism Development Corporation in 2018. In 2019 he was made the Chairman of Odisha Hockey Promotion Council. Earlier this year, Tirkey was elected as the President of the newly formed Hockey Association of Odisha.

HOCKEY INDIA OFFICE-BEARERS: President: Dr Dilip Kumar Tirkey (Hockey Association of Odisha). Vice-President (Female): Asima Ali (Hockey Jammu & Kashmir). Vice-President (Male): SVS Subramanya Gupta (Hockey Karnataka). Secretary General: Bholanath Singh (Hockey Jharkhand). Treasurer: Sekar J Manoharan (Hockey Unit of Tamil Nadu). Joint-Secretary (Female): Arti Singh (Hockey Rajasthan). Joint-Secretary (Male): Sunil Malik (Hockey Haryana). Executive Board Members: Arun Kumar Sarswat (Hockey Rajasthan), Asrita Lakra (Hockey Jharkhand), Gurpreet Kaur (Delhi Hockey), V Sunil Kumar (Kerala Hockey), Tapan Kumar Das (Assam Hockey).
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PHOTO: Odisha Olympian Dilip Tirkey (Centre) poses after being elected unopposed as the president of Hockey India on 23 September 2022.