The FIH has confirmed Coudron will stand against incumbent Batra after declaring his candidacy before yesterday’s deadline.

Coudron and Batra are set to fight it out in the next Presidential election which is scheduled to take place at the FIH Statutory Congress in Delhi in India on May 22.

insidethegames exclusively revealed last month that Batra would stand for a second term as President after issuing a letter to the organisation’s membership to declare his re-election bid.

Batra, who is head of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has led the FIH since 2016.

But Batra will now have to overcome the challenge of Coudron to retain his place at the helm.

Coudron remains Belgian’s most-capped international hockey player of all time, having made 358 appearances for his country.

The 51-year-old has also played a key role in helping to put Belgium on the Olympic stage and challenge for medals after becoming the head of KBHB in 2005.

Under his leadership, Belgium’s men’s team qualified for the Games for the first time in 32 years at Beijing 2008 before winning silver at Rio 2016 and clinching gold at the European Championships in 2019.

The women’s team also made their Olympic debut at London 2012.

With his presidency at KBHB due to finish in June, Coudron is now hoping to secure the top job at the FIH.

"During the corona crisis I thought about my future and after sixteen beautiful years at the KBHB I still feel the passion and desire to put myself at the service of hockey," Coudron is reported as saying by Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws.

"I feel ready to take this step."

Batra, who was up for re-election last year before the FIH Congress was postponed over the coronavirus pandemic - has been accused of not dedicating enough time to the position as his critics believe he has prioritised his IOA role, which is linked to his IOC membership.

But Coudron refused to be drawn into criticism of Batra.

"You won't hear me say anything about his way of working," said Coudron.

"I respect him.

"Just like me, Batra has a great passion for hockey.

"Of course I have a different approach in some areas.

"I have my project and if I am elected I will do everything I can to further develop hockey worldwide.

"Our sport has to be back to the roots and back to the people.

"Hockey should not only be regarded as a top sport, we must get millions of people worldwide to play hockey.

"The further development of the sport is paramount.

"Hockey is not only played on the field, the framework must also be top-notch."

The FIH also confirmed Uruguay’s Danae Andrada, Zambia’s Hazel Kennedy, Erik Cornelissen of The Netherlands and Macau’s Tayyab Ikram will seek re-election for positions on the Executive Board.

Ireland’s Inez Cooper and Nigeria’s Ediga Bede Agbo are also among the six nominees for four posts.

Two of those elected to the Executive Board must be women, and two must be men.

FIH chief executive Thierry Weil is now set to submit the nominations to the FIH Elections Oversights Panel (EOP).

"The aim of the EOP is to ensure that the FIH elections are carried out in a fair and transparent manner consistent with the FIH statutes, integrity code, elections manual and general regulations," a statement from the FIH read. 

"Any nomination has to be approved by the EOP before being validated."

The winner of the election will serve as President until 2024 after the FIH shortened the second term from four years to three following the postponement of the 2020 Congress.