The Indian official sparked widespread controversy and condemnation earlier this week for an angry tirade of Facebook posts, where he managed to offend a religious leader in Kashmir, the British police force and pretty much the entire population of Pakistan.

The comments, which have since been deleted after the FIH ordered him to do so, were regrettable, lamentable and downright disrespectful. They are not acceptable from any ordinary person on the street, let alone the President of an International Federation (IF).

Batra’s position carries with it a clear responsibility. He is the head of the sport’s worldwide governing body, the face of the organisation. Everything he says, does and posts is scrutinised by the hockey fanbase, particularly in his native India.

Why, then, does he deem it necessary to effectively incite racial hatred at a time of deepening tension and continued political discord between India and Pakistan?

Why does he deem it necessary to get involved in former India captain Sardar Singh being asked in for questioning by British police in connection with an alleged sexual assault case?

Such actions are simply not fitting of a man with his title and his standing in world sport, and have landed him in hot water with the organisation he is supposed to represent in the best possible manner. They may have also severed relations with fellow officials in the sport, especially those in Pakistan, possibly beyond repair.

After Pakistan won the International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy with a sensational victory over their arch Indian rivals, Kashmiri separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar tweeted his congratulations. He had every right to do so.

The same cannot be said for Batra, who responded with a series of derogatory Facebook posts he is likely to regret throughout his tenure at the helm of the FIH, however long or short that might be.

The former Hockey India President replied to Farooq, the spiritual leader of the Muslims in Kashmir, a territory disputed by India, Pakistan and China, by calling him a “Pakistani sucker”, a “pig” and a “Pakistan sympathiser”. As if that was not quite clear enough, he also claimed Farooq should return to Pakistan.

His social media horror show forced the FIH to release a statement which both apologised on Batra’s behalf and distanced the worldwide governing body from his deplorable sentiments. It was a further three days before the President himself issued his own personal apology.

According to the FIH, Batra “issued personal apologies via formal letters and follow up phone calls to several nations and the Executive Board”. One such letter was sent to the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), whom he had clearly offended the most.

“I would like to offer my sincere regrets to PHF and all concerned for using my social media page to make inappropriate comments,” he wrote in the letter, according to the Hindustan Times.

“My comments were made on the spur of the moment and were an emotional outburst.

“This will be a lesson for me as I understand I have hurt the feelings of many people as well as placed the FIH in a difficult position.

“I can reassure the PHF that such thing will not happen in the future.”

Even the apology letter to the PHF left a lot to be desired. By claiming his Facebook posts came in an “emotional outburst”, he was trying to make an excuse for the inexcusable.

Emotionally-charged or not, there was simply no need for what he said, and it remains to be seen whether the FIH, who have already launched an “internal review in line with our governance policies”, decide he deserves to be subjected to further sanctions.

There may be some within the FIH who feel his position has become untenable, who question whether a man who harbours such views irrespective of the fact they were made “in the spur of the moment”, is the right person to lead the governing body going forward.

Not only that, but the wider membership may also find it difficult to view him in the same shining light as they did when they overwhelmingly elected him to succeed Leandro Negre at the FIH Congress in Dubai in November. Do they want him to survive the backlash his poorly-timed elevation into the keyboard warrior’s club has caused? Only time will tell.

The early reaction from those outside of India and Pakistan has been fairly muted thus far. A statement from England Hockey, sent to insidethegames, said little other than confirming they “respect” the process being undertaken by the FIH.

PHF secretary general Shahbaz Ahmed, who won a bronze medal at the 1992 Olympic Games, understandably criticised Batra in the immediate aftermath, admitting it was not conduct fitting of the head of the sport’s worldwide governing body and calling on the Indian to apologise. He has since got his wish.

In a way, Batra can count himself lucky he is the President of the FIH and not the International Association of Athletics Federations, for example. No disrespect to hockey, but the sport does not garner as much global attention as athletics or several of their Olympic counterparts like swimming, cycling or football.

He can also consider himself fortunate that he is not a member of the IOC. Had he been part of sport’s most exclusive club, he may have been hauled in front of their Ethics Commission as a result of his Facebook antics.

Of course, Batra is not alone in struggling to come to terms with social media. Old tweets from professional footballers, sent in the early days of Twitter’s existence, are often retweeted for comedy value, while even United States President Donald Trump has fallen foul in recent times, particularly with his now infamous “covfefe” tweet.

I expect the vast majority of the Twitterati and users of Facebook will hold their hands up and admit they too have sent posts or messages they wish they hadn’t. I am no exception; in 2012 I sent a vulgar Tweet to former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan in response to his delight at Sergio Aguero’s stoppage-time winner, which handed the Premier League title to Manchester City at the expense of my beloved Manchester United. It was not my best moment and certainly cannot be repeated on these pages.

There are those that have come out of the Batra Facebook saga in a positive light, however. The FIH communications staff have handled the issue brilliantly, proactively releasing statements in response to the actions of their own President rather than waiting for an influx of questions from the media before doing so.

IFs often prefer a vow of silence rather than addressing the concern at hand but, as a result, the FIH have managed to stay ahead of the crisis.

The whole episode got me thinking about one of my abiding memories of the post Olympics euphoria last year - an interview Rio 2016 communications director Mario Andrada gave to the Washington Post. The piece tells the story of when Andrada was informed of the colour of the water at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Center, which hosted diving at the Games.

When he got the phone call, Andrada is quoted as saying: “What the [expletive]? Don't [expletive] me."

I expect the reaction was similarly indignant in the FIH office when they were first made aware of Batra’s Facebook posts, which may have done irreparable damage to his once lauded reputation.

His other misdemeanour came in the wake of India’s 7-1 thrashing of Pakistan at the Hockey World League semi-final in London, around 10 miles from the cricket final at The Oval. Batra took exception to British authorities asking Singh in for questioning in Leeds after the match had concluded.

“England is a country which is a safe heaven (sic) for all fraudsters who have run away from India and agree to invest in England," Batra wrote.

"I would love to see the reaction of England and world media if in India the England players are called to police stations.

"Request the Indian media to get the Ministry of External Affairs and Indian High Commission in UK involved."

It was yet another example of Batra’s worrying lack of social media awareness. He simply must learn from his mistakes if his FIH Presidency is to be remembered for the right reasons, rather than a day of madness behind his computer.