The International Hockey Federation (FIH) announces that agreement has been reached for the retirement of Hans Bertels as the Executive Director of the FIH as of 31 March 2008 after performing the job for just more than 12.5 years.
The decision of the retirement of the FIH Executive Director was announced during the FIH Executive Board meeting in
The 63-years old Dutchman Bertels started in his position with the FIH on 1July 1995 in
Under Bertels' leadership, the FIH became more and more a professional organization with a growing staff from 4 to 14 colleagues at this moment, most of them based at the FIH Offices in
Before joining the FIH in 1995, Bertels was the Director of the Elite Sports Department of the Dutch National Olympic Committee (NOC*NSF). In this position, he also was the Deputy Chef de Mission of the Dutch Olympic Team at the Olympic Games in 1988, 1992 and 1994.
ÔÇÿWe sincerely regret his retirement', FIH President Els van Breda Vriesman stated. ÔÇÿBut this has come at the right time for him to start a different life with his family and his hobbies. Hans has been extremely loyal and cooperative to the FIH and the world of hockey. We sincerely thank him for his dedication and efforts.'
The FIH will start the recruitment procedure for the successor of Bertels in the next couple of weeks.
