NEW DELHI, Nov 6: Manipur�s Gyanendro Ningombam was on Friday elected unopposed as the Hockey India (HI) president, taking over from Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad who was asked to demit office by the sports ministry for violating the National Sports Code�s tenure guidelines. Ahmad, however, remains in the federation after being elected unopposed for the senior vice-president�s post at HI�s Congress and Elections here.
Access to the meeting through video conferencing facility was made available for member units which were unable to travel due to the restrictions imposed by their respective state governments to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. On being elected unopposed, Ningombam becomes the first President from the North East region to head HI. He held the position of �officiating president� after Ahmad tendered his resignation in July citing personal and family commitments. He later accused the ministry of working with malafide intent by asking him to resign.
The Sports Ministry had asked Ahmad to step down, declaring his 2018 election as violative of the national sports code�s tenure guidelines and also directed the federation to conduct fresh election for the post of president.� PTI