Hockey Australia and Hockey New Zealand have been replaced by Namibia and USA (Men) as well as Canada and South Africa (Women) at the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup Belgium 2022, to be held here from February 2-6 next year. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has announced.
Announcing the schedule of the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup Belgium 2022 on Friday evening, the FIH said in a statement that, “Following the announcement by Hockey Australia and Hockey New Zealand that they will no longer be able to participate due to COVID-related international travel, the FIH has announced that they will no longer be able to participate in the event. Restrictions imposed by their respective governments, Oceania’s representatives have been replaced by Namibia and the USA (male), as well as Canada and South Africa (female).
“These four teams have been invited by the FIH, based on being runners-up in the recently held African and Pan American Indoor Championships, with a view to maintaining a balance between the number of teams participating in each continent.”
The women’s national teams of the Czech Republic and Kazakhstan will begin the show on February 2, while the men’s and women’s finals will be played on February 6.
“With less than 80 international matches played over 5 days, the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup offers an especially intense and exciting spectacle,” said FIH CEO Thierry Weil.
Serge Pilate, CEO of Hockey Belgium, said, “We are extremely happy that we can finally start this organization after a very difficult month. To be able to announce a world class event like the Indoor Hockey World Cup in Belgium has really helped us. An important milestone. And with our Olympic gold medal still fresh in the memories of Belgian sports fans, we are confident that we will be able to attract new audiences to discover our beautiful sport in its indoor version “
This will be the sixth edition of the FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup. The event will see 12 teams competing in the men’s and women’s competitions respectively. The women of Germany and the men of Austria won the previous edition, which took place in Berlin, Germany in 2018.
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