Kho Kho Federation of India (KKFI) President Rajeev Mehta was also elected unopposed as the new secretary general of the National Olympic Committee, which is now hoping the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will lift the ban it imposed in December 2012.

The row started when Lalit Bhanot, who spent 11 months in jail on corruption charges linked to the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games, ran unopposed for the position of IOA secretary general, while another tainted official - Abhay Chautala - became President, in elections that the IOC refused to recognise.

However, IOC President Thomas Bach proposed a series of recommendations at the end of last year, including that no person with a criminal conviction may run in IOA elections, in a bid to get the ban lifted.

He also warned that India could face expulsion if it did not agree to the changes.

"To the best of our knowledge, the IOC observer team is completely satisfied with the conduct and the fairness of the election," Ramachandran, whose brother Narayanaswami Srinivasan heads the Board of Control for Cricket in India, said following the elections in New Delhi.

"The house has urged them to take their report back to the IOC Executive Board and try to make sure the athletes walk beneath the Indian tri-colour at the earliest."

India's Shiva Keshavan, Nadeem Iqbal and Himanshu Thakur are competing as independent athletes under the Olympic flag at Sochi 2014 ©Getty Images


It was not, however, early enough for India's athletes competing at Sochi 2014 - luger Shiva Keshavan, and skiers Himanshu Thakur and Nadeem Iqbal, who are competing as independent athletes under the Olympic flag.

"We will be leaving to go back to Sochi for the IOC executive board meeting and personally report on today's proceedings," Robin Mitchell, head of the IOC delegation at the election, said.

"They will take the necessary actions and hopefully the outcome expected of today's meeting will be announced very soon."

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