The trio will vie to replace the outgoing Leandro Negre, with the Spaniard’s term in office coming to an end after eight years in the role.

Negre, 70, could have chosen to run for a third term, but has surprisingly opted against standing, having claimed in January that he would stand and expected to be re-elected unopposed.

“Well I will stand for sure but at this moment I have no idea who will run against me,” Negre had told insidethegames.

No reason has yet been given for his decision.

Each of the three candidates were officially nominated by their National Associations, with the winner due to be decided at the Hockey Revolution Part II Congress on November 12 in Dubai.

Australia’s Read is currently the chair of the FIH’s Competitions Committee and is the President of Hockey Tasmania, while he has previously served as a board member of Hockey Australia.

Batra serves as the President of Hockey India, having been unanimously elected into the post in 2014.

He is also the vice-president of the Asian Hockey Federation, the associate vice-president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the chairman of the Hockey India League, as well as being an existing FIH Board member.

Ireland’s Balbirnie served for 20-years in the European Hockey Federation, with roles as an Executive Board member and honorary general secretary.

The FIH have announced Executive Board members Mary Cicinelli of Canada and England’s Sue Catton will seek re-election, while The Netherlands' Jan Albers and Pakistan’s Qasim Zia will not stand for another term.

As a consequence, four positions on the Executive Board will be elected at the Congress.

In the event that Barta is elected FIH President, a fifth candidate will be elected.

Uruguay’s Danae Andrada and Zambia’s Hazel Kennedy are among those seeking election, along with The Netherlands’ Eric Cornelissen, Spain’s Santiago Deo, the United States' Shawn Hindy and Tayyab Ikram from Macau.

Outgoing Athletes’ Committee chair Michael Green is also aiming for a place on the board.

The German is due to be replaced as the Athletes' Committee chair by England’s Annie Panter.

The remaining members of the Executive Board all have two years to run on their existing terms, while Continental Federation Presidents remain members until their next elections.

Executive Board and Continental Federation meetings are scheduled to take place between November 9 and 10 in Dubai, as well as the inaugural turf and field forum for organisations involved in the governing body’s quality programme for hockey turf.

The Hockey Revolution Conference will then take place on November 11 to provide updates on the latest news, and will include an exclusive preview of the FIH’s plans for the immediate future.

 The conference precedes the Hockey Revolution Awards Dinner in the evening, with elections bringing the event to a close on November 12.