The 68-year-old, a member of Australia's team that won Olympic silver medals at Montreal 1976, launched the "for the good of hockey" campaign prior to the FIH Executive Board, which was scheduled to be held today in Terrassa in Spain with Batra joining online after testing positive for COVID-19.

Walsh's petition follows on from a Delhi High Court ruling the position of Life Member and Life President of Hockey India were "illegal" as they were not within the guidelines of the National Sports Code.

"Following the recent findings in the High Court of Delhi against FIH President Narinder Batra, we the undersigned believe that his position as head of the sport of international Hockey is now untenable," Walsh said on change.org.

"There have been other incidents that have resulted in Mr Batra's censure during his time as President, but this ruling in the High Court has found him guilty of illegal practices and brought the sport into disrepute.

"More importantly at a time when the President of any sporting organisation must be seen as being totally impartial, the findings of the court have confirmed that he has still had involvement in hockey in India."

The Delhi High Court ruled in favour of placing a three-member Committee of Administrators to run Hockey India's day-to-day affairs.

The hearing took place following a petition from Aslam Sher Khan, a former Indian hockey player, which challenged the appointment of Batra as life member of Hockey India.

Walsh accused the FIH Board of being "made up of individuals who have failed to relinquish their roles with national associations once elected which makes it hard for themselves to be able to act with a clear conscience."

The petition also calls for FIH finances between 2019 and 2021 to be published alongside the FIH Foundation's transactions from 2018 to 2021.

"Transparency and good governance are essential if the sport is to survive in this highly competitive environment," Walsh said.

The court decision forced Batra to step down as President of the Indian Olympic Committee.

Consequently, Anil Khanna became Acting President.

Several reports in India claimed that the Central Bureau of Investigation opened a preliminary investigation into Batra in April for alleged misappropriation of public funds.

Batra's critics accused him of jeopardising the IOA and FIH by running them simultaneously due to the time demands for each position.

His first term as the FIH President, which he assumed to in 2016, was extended after the COVID-19 pandemic delayed elections.

Delayed voting took place last year, with the 65-year-old Batra winning a second term by a narrow margin after polling 63 votes against 61 earned by Belgium's Marc Coudron.

Batra was one of 10 people elected as an International Olympic Committee member at the Session in Lausanne in June 2019.