The Executive Board of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) held its last 2009 meeting on the occasion of the ABN AMRO Champions Trophy in Melbourne, Australia. The Hero Honda FIH World Cup and the new strategic directions FIH3 were on top of the agenda.

With all 12 teams qualified for the Hero Honda FIH World Cup, to be held from 28 February-13 March 2010 in New Delhi, India, the FIH Executive Board was pleased that positive developments have been reported. Besides the preparation for FIH's flagship event, the elections for Hockey India are planned to take place early 2010.

A major part of the FIH Executive Board meeting was reserved for the FIH3 strategic planning, including the 10 recommendations of the Working Groups ÔÇ£ProductÔÇØ and ÔÇ£PropertiesÔÇØ. These recommendations were all accepted and include the following:

  • The development of rights models for Top and next tier FIH Properties.
  • The development of proposals for the creation of wild card opportunities for the FIH Properties.
  • The development of the FIH World Series.
  • The development of a new and complementary game.

Other major decisions taken at the FIH Executive Board Meeting in Melbourne were the following:

  • There is a need for a smaller FIH Executive Board. Formal proposals for this decision will be elaborated for approval for the next FIH Executive Board meeting in March 2010
  • The qualification criteria for the 2012 Olympic Games in London will be the same as for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
  • There will be no cross over classification matches at both 2010 World Cups for the positions 5-12. Direct classifications matches will be played as was done for the 2008 Olympic Games.
  • The High Performance Committee created in July 2009 is now complete with eight members appointed.
  • Expressions of interest will be called from National Associations to host the FIH World Level Events for the period 2011-2015 for allocation in July 2010.

ÔÇÿIt was a fundamental and important Executive Board meeting', FIH President Leandro Negre stated. ÔÇÿThe decisions taken will improve the position of our sport in the future.'

The next FIH Executive Board meeting will take place in New Delhi, India on 14 and 15 March 2010 on the occasion of the Hero Honda FIH World Cup.


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