As soon as he was elected at the helm of hockey’s world governing body, FIH President Tayyab Ikram committed to engage – both FIH and himself personally – on a non-stop basis with the FIH members, ie the 140 National Associations of hockey around the world.
That weren’t empty words and since Day 1, Tayyab Ikram has been spending most of his Presidency meeting with these major stakeholders of the global hockey community, listening to their reality and challenges, taking their advice in consideration and providing guidance whenever possible.
As part of this policy, the FIH President, together with FIH CEO Thierry Weil and further representatives from the FIH team, held a consultation call last week with around 40 National Associations - ranked beyond the FIH Hockey Pro League or FIH Hockey Nations Cup countries – and the Continental Federations.
The main topic on the agenda was the access of these nations to FIH events. In this regard, two main routes were explored:
- Creating a new competition (similar to the Nations Cup but for national teams ranked lower)
- Increasing the number of participating teams at the FIH Hockey Junior World Cups
Both proposals were much welcomed by the participants, therefore confirming that there is a strong appetite for such options. They will now be examined in more details.
Furthermore, the international hockey calendar as well as the growth of Watch.Hockey – the ‘Digital Home of Hockey’ – were discussed too.
“This was an amazing interaction! Listening to and learning from our National Associations is deeply enriching and inspiring. This has always been my experience, ever since I’ve been involved in hockey. This is how we will move forward and I would like to thank wholeheartedly all participants for their active involvement and efforts”, President Ikram said.
