SIX new faces joined the Bahrain Olympic Committee board of directors while three were reelected during the National Sports Federation’s General Assembly at Swiss Belhotel in Seef.
Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, Shaikha Hayat Al Khalifa and Ali Isa Eshaqi were the three reelected for another four-year period.
Bahrain Table Tennis Association president Shaikha Hayat was the most successful receiving all 28 votes. Bahrain Handball Association president Eshaqi received 23 votes and Bahrain Mixed Martial Arts chief Khalid Al Khayat 27.
Bahrain Shooting Association vice-president Shaikh Hamad bin Rashid Al Khalifa (26 votes), Bahrain Swimming Association president Shaikh Mohammed bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa (23) and Bahrain Athletics Association assistant general secretary Bader Nasser (20 each) were the other new faces joining the board.
Bahrain Gymnastics Association president Abdulla Al Dossary, a former board member, returns to the committee while the other four winners were Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa (cycling), Shaikh Abdulaziz bin Mubarak Al Khalifa (tennis), Saleh Faraj (fencing) and Adel Al Fayyad (golf).
An additional seat for non-Olympic sports federations was won by Bahrain Motor Federation general secretary Rashid Al Zayani with 18 votes against two contenders – Bahrain Sport for All Federation president Isa Abdulrahim (6 votes) and Bahrain Bowling Association president Ahmed Al Nuaimi (4).
Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa secured the dedicated VIP seat while swimmer Omar Al Malki also joins the board after being elected chairman of BOC’s Athletes Commission.
Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa was elected president unopposed in May.
The day’s programme started with presentation of the administrative report for the 2015-16 period in addition to the financial report for the year 2016. The budget for 2017 was also approved as well as the previous General Assembly report submitted on May 20, 2015.
The committee which supervised the election consisted of BOC general secretary Abdulrahman Askar, Sports Affairs executive director Abduljalil Asad and legal consultant Salah Khedr in addition to three members from the General Assembly – Mohammed Al Thawadi, Hameed Rahma and Sultan Al Ghanem.