Sunday, November 30, 2008

Spaniard Negre topples Els


SPANIARD Leandro Negre (pic) was elected as the new President of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) after he beat incumbent Els van Breda Vriesman of the Netherlands during the FIH Congress in Los Angeles, USA on Saturday.
Negre will helm the world body for four years, after he received the mandate from a total 89 National Associations who were present at the FIH Congress.
Negre, who is also the President of the European Hockey Federation, was delighted with the result: “I am very happy to be elected and I would like to thank the National Associations for voting for me. And I would also like to appoint Els as the Honorary President of the FIH, as she has been actively promoting the sport since 2001.”
During the Congress, FIH also welcomed five new National Associations: Mongolia, Qatar, Togo, Vanuatu and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Now, the number of FIH Member Countries stands at 127.