With FIH chief executive officer Kelly Fairweather calling for "200 countries" across the world to take up our sport, the hockey federation in Asia is rising to the challenge. Delegates at the 2014 Asian Hockey Federation Congress in Kuala Lumpur heard how hockey across the continent is set to grow over the next few years as the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) agreed to raise the profile of the game throughout Asia. The AHF will be supported in its quest for ongoing development by the International Hockey Federation (FIH).
Kicking off a surge in growth and development across the continent, will be the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, which will take place from 19 September to 4 October. The competition will incorporate the four-quarter system recently introduced by FIH.
During the meeting, FIH president Leandro Negre underlined the important role played by Asian countries in promoting hockey. In particular, he acknowledged the work of Hockey India in hosting several competitions over the past few seasons. Tan Sri Alagendra, who stepped down after 16 years as Secretary-General, also praised the contribution of all the member countries towards new areas of development and appealed to the new committee to take forward the ongoing work of the AHF.
Outlining the nuts and bolts of development, Kelly Fairweather presented FIH’s strategic programme for the next 10 years for making hockey more global in its reach.
The meeting observed a minute’s silence as a mark of respect to the late Azlan Shah, President of AHF.
Among some of the appointments that were agreed at the meeting, Prince Abdullah Tuanku Ahmad Shah of Malaysia and Fumio Ogura of Japan were elected as President and Treasurer respectively. Thyyab Ikram will be the CEO. Tan Sri Alagendra is Honorary Life President:
India’s Manpreet Singh was named best junior male player of the year and We Heung Yu of Chinese Taipei the junior female player of the year. Pakistan’s Mohammad Shafique and Akane Shibata of Japan were chosen as the players of the year for men and women.
