Lausanne, Switzerland: The Executive Board (EB) of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) met today, under the chairmanship of FIH President Tayyab Ikram, at the Olympic House in Lausanne where the new FIH Empowerment and Engagement strategy was launched in attendance of IOC President Thomas Bach.
Beyond the strategy launch, the EB took a number of other important decisions:
- FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifier: Spain will host a joint Women’s and Men’s event and China will host one women’s event; the host of the second men’s event will be confirmed shortly
- The global hockey calendar will now be established for a period of 4 years and published every year in October
- The EB decided that the global consultation process among all hockey stakeholders around the penalty corner, launched by FIH last year, will continue
- A Junior World Ranking will be introduced
- The EB decided to amend the players’ kit rule in order to enable athletes to wear skirts, skorts or shorts, at their convenience; the only condition is that they are of the same colour and design
- The FIH Athletes Committee will have a new structure that will improve the communication flow between athletes around the world and give a greater opportunity to athletes for participating in administrative decision-making; the Committee will be made up of 10 members, with 2 members appointed by each Continental Federation
The EB members also received invaluable information from IOC Director General Christophe de Kepper, IOC Sports Director Kit McConnell, IOC Athletes Department Director Kaveh Mehrabi and IOC Associate Director, Athletes and Sport Development Division Olivier Niamkey.
IOC President Thomas Bach said: “Cooperation between the International Hockey Federation and IOC is better than ever. From the IOC's point of view, there is a fresh wind of innovation and a forward looking approach within the Federation which is in line with IOC's Olympic Agenda and Olympic Agenda plus 5. We both want to make sport a leading force in the new world that is emerging. In this goal we continue to have a strong and reliable partner in the FIH. The FIH Empowerment and Engagement strategy is impressive. It really focuses on the future development of hockey. I’m particularly pleased to see that it puts athletes in the centre.”
The meeting was attended by representatives from the Hockey Associations of India, the Netherlands, New Zealand, England, Spain, Malaysia, Australia, Belgium and Germany.
