The President of the European Hockey Federation has been elected the new President of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) at the FIH Congress in Los Angeles. Leandro Negre said on his election, "I am very happy to be elected and I would like to thank the national associations for voting for me." He went on to say about the outgoing President, "And I would like to thank Els van Breda Vriesman for the excellent work she did for hockey."
Negre is a popular and avuncular Spaniard who, during his Presidency of the EHF, has seen the expansion of European club competition and in particular the introduction of the EuroHockey League. There had been fears expressed ahead of the election that the dethroning of Vriesman would mean the loss of representation for hockey on the International Olympic Committee, where she has been a member since 2001.
The FIH Congress has seen the welcoming of five new member nations - Mongolia, Qatar, Togo, Vanuatu, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The FIH now has 127 member countries.
