Lausanne, Switzerland: Meeting today virtually for the second time of the year, the Executive Board (EB) of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) received reports on the preparation status of the upcoming FIH events, including the next one, namely the FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup South Africa 2021, which will start on 1 April at the North-West University of Potchefstroom, the venue which last month hosted 14 FIH Hockey Pro League matches.
FIH has been in regular contact with the Hockey Association of Ukraine to offer any support it can to the Ukrainian team, whose participation in the upcoming FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup is not confirmed at this stage. Furthermore, FIH has extended its appreciation and thanks to the Hockey Associations of Poland and the Netherlands for the support they’ve been providing to Ukrainian hockey.
The EB has expressed again its full solidarity with the Ukrainian hockey community at this awful time and reiterated its strong hope for a peaceful resolution rapidly.
On 1 March, following the recommendation by the IOC to avoid the participation of Russian athletes and officials in international competitions - in order to protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all participants – the EB had excluded Russia from this event. Also, no Russian, nor Belarusian officials will be considered for appointment at any FIH events for the foreseeable future.
The FIH Hockey Women’s World Cup Spain and Netherlands 2022 will celebrate its “100 days to go” milestone next week, on 23 March. On this occasion, the name of the event’s mascot – as chosen by the fans – will be revealed!
The EB has approved to launch a global Penalty Corner consultation project, to gather input from across the hockey world on how we can maintain the excitement and spectacle of the penalty corner set piece, whilst reducing the potential danger for defenders and the need for a large amount of protective equipment to be worn. This consultation project could lead to trials of new rules, but no permanent rule change will be implemented until at least after the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
FIH EB Member and Oceania Hockey Federation President Clare Prideaux, Chair of the Sustainability Task Force, gave an update on the works of the Task Force which was created last year in order to help FIH shape the future sustainability strategy of hockey around the world. The Task Force includes representatives from Continental Federations, athletes, officials and event organisers as well as external experts. The FIH Sustainability Strategy, which is being built around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and includes the three main pillars of “People, Planet and Prosperity” will be introduced at the next FIH Congress in November 2022.
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