New Delhi: Indian Olympic Association felicitated the International Hockey Federation (FIH) President its President Mr. N. Ramachandran at the felicitation ceremony organised in Olympic Bhawan today.
The ceremony began with IOA president Mr. N. Ramachandran presenting a souvenir to Dr. Narinder Batra, to felicitate the honor. Mr. Rajeev Mehta, Secretary General, Indian Olympic Association, then presented a souvenir to the President of IOA Mr. N. Ramachandran.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) recently honoured IOA President Mr. N Ramachandran for his contributions to the Olympic Movement. In August this year during Rio Olympics, International Olympic Committee President Mr. Thomas Bach conferred Mr. Ramachandran with Olympic Order Award for his outstanding services to the Olympic movement. The Olympic Order is the highest award of the Olympic Movement and is awarded for particularly distinguished contributions to the Olympic Movement, that is, recognition of efforts worthy of merit in the cause of sport. Two months later, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) conferred Mr. Ramachandran with the prestigious OCA Award of Merit for his outstanding contributions to sports in Asia. With these two recognitions by IOC and OCA makes Mr. Ramachandran is the only IOA President to have received the two prestigious awards and that too in close succession.
On felicitation Mr. N. Ramachandran said, “ I would like to congratulate Dr. Batra for winning FIH elections with a huge margins and making everyone proud. I am sure under his guidance the sport of hockey will grow more globally. I would also like to thank the IOA family for this felicitation ceremony.”
IOA also felicitated the newly elected FIH President Dr. Narinder Batra, who is also the associate Vice President of Indian Olympic Association (IOA). Dr. Batra was previously the president of Hockey India, and has worked towards changing the scenario of Hockey in the country. His contribution towards Hockey in India has been outstanding for the past five years, he has been working day after day to make sure hockey reaches a level that is at par with all other sports in India.
Dr. Narinder Batra acknowledged the felicitation and said, “ I would like to thank IOA for this honor and congratulate Mr. N. Ramachandran for being conferred by IOC and OCA. I can assure you that I will do my best to make our country and you all feel proud.”
Congratulating Dr. Batra, Mr. Rajeev Mehta, Secretary General Indian Olympic Association said, “ I would like to congratulate Dr. Narinder Batra who has been recently elected as the president of the International Federation of Hockey (FIH). I have seen him work tirelessly towards improving the sport of Hockey in India. In the past few years we have seen a significant change in the game of Hockey, Indian hockey team is provided with better amenities and opportunities. Dr. Batra has played a significant role in changing the scenario of the sport.”
He added, “ I would also like to congratulate our Honorable president of IOA Mr. N. Ramachandran for receiving the laurels from the IOC and OCA both within a span of two months. This shows that our Olympic committee is recognized all around the globe and this also shows the effort that has been put in by our president to bring IOA to this level. His guidance and support has changed the face of Indian Olympics.”
(This story is received from the source mentioned and may or may not have any editing involved)