21 May 2021 Lausanne, Switzerland: Today’s #HockeyInvites virtual conference organised by FIH as part of its 47th FIH Congress concluded with the FIH Honorary Awards giving recognition to numerous individuals, teams and organisations for their outstanding contributions to the sport of hockey. The first prize to be ‘presented’ was the Pablo Negre Award to the Uzbekistan Hockey Federation, acknowledging its tremendous efforts to improve playing conditions through new infrastructure and the implementation of youth development models as the country strives to become a major hockey hub of Central Asia.  Another National Association honoured was the Polish Hockey Association, who picked up the Theo Ikema Award thanks to various hockey development projects resulting in 30 newly trained coaches and over 3000 schoolchildren being introduced to the sport within the country, while Hockey India was announced as the winners of the Etienne Glichitch Award in recognition of its remarkable contribution to the growth and development of Hockey. As well as National Associations, numerous individuals were recognised in the awards. Inspirational England and Great Britain striker Sam Ward – who suffered a career threatening eye injury in 2019 – was revealed as the recipient of the Super Fair Play Trophy René G Frank. It comes in recognition of his perseverance, dedication, and energy not only in his own recovery but also raising awareness of mental health issues and even volunteering his time to deliver food and medicines to his local community and supporting a young leukaemia patient, Alfie.  The Guust Lathouwers Memorial Trophy – for an individual who has made a significant mark on the development of umpiring – went to Croatia’s Ivona Makar, who was described as an outstanding umpire with a very bright future ahead of her.  Sharon Williamson of New Zealand was also honoured, being named as the winner of the HRH Sultan Azlan Shah Award for dedicating thousands of voluntary hours toward the delivery of New Zealand’s brand-new National Hockey Centre in Auckland.  Additionally, four Order of Merit award winners were revealed. The awardees were Yokoyama Hide, the Vice President of Asian Hockey Federation and Chairman of the Development & Engagement Committee; Peter Elders, EHF and KNHB Executive Board Member and Chair of the EHF Development Committee; Mr Richard Kofi Akpokavie, FIH Technical Official, Chairman of the African Hockey Federation Officials Committee and Member of the FIH Officials Committee, and Dr Robin Mitchell, Foundation member of Oceania Hockey Federation, former President of Fiji Hockey Association and Acting President of ANOC. Diploma of Merit awards went to Mathavan Devadas, President of the Singapore Hockey Federation; Shin Jung Hee, Vice President of both the Asian Hockey Federation and Korean Hockey Association, and Sarah Bennett, African Hockey Federation Executive Board Member and Chair of the AfHF Development Committee.   The final award to be revealed saw His Majesty Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, the current King of Malaysia, being named as an Honorary Member of FIH for his tireless efforts to promote and develop hockey. His Majesty Sultan Abdullah Ahmad Shah, who is the current Royal Patron of the Asian Hockey Federation, has initiated the regeneration of hockey in Asia and vowed to recreate its status as an extravaganza and symbolic sport on the Asian and global platform. To see an overview of all FIH Honorary Award winners both past and present as well as background information about the prizes, please click here. The FIH Honorary Awards took place on the opening day of the 47th Congress, with the Congress session itself taking place on Saturday 22 May. Hundreds of delegates from all over the world will connect in the first ever online Congress, where key strategic decisions are made for the development and governance of hockey globally. The Congress agenda includes, amongst other items, elections for the position of FIH President and for four positions of EB Ordinary Member. More information about the agenda of the 47th FIH Congress can be found by clicking here. Opening the 47th FIH Congress, FIH President Dr Narinder Dhruv Batra said: “It is a pleasure for me to welcome you to the Hockey Invites day, which is Day 1 of our two-day FIH Congress. First of all, wherever you are, I hope you and your beloved ones are keeping well and safe. This is by far the most important thing today. I look forward to fruitful discussions and I would like to thank everyone in advance for your participation.” Today’s conference can be watched back in full on the Watch.Hockey app.   For more information about FIH and hockey in general, please download the Watch.Hockey app or follow the FIH social media channels – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – and website.

22 April 2021 Lausanne, Switzerland: The agenda of the FIH Congress, which will be held virtually on 22 May, is now published. The upcoming meeting of the supreme organ of hockey’s world governing body includes, amongst others, elections for the position of FIH President and for four positions of EB Ordinary Member. Elections will be conducted via e-voting (art. 6.3 c) FIH Statutes) and overseen by the FIH Elections Oversight Panel (EOP), as stipulated in the FIH Elections Manual (art. 11). UK company Lumi will operate the e-voting process. Furthermore, FIH has appointed an independent notary (from UK firm Cheeswrights Scrivener Notaries LLP), who will chair and oversee the election process. His powers are delegated by the Elections Oversight Panel. Other points on the agenda include: A vote on the admission of the following nations as new FIH Members: Gambia, Saudi Arabia and Timor Leste (all approved as provisional Members by the FIH Executive Board on 22 October 2020); A vote on the admission as FIH Member of a new National Association (NA) in Indonesia, which is recognised by the Indonesian NOC. This is due to the non-fulfilment of their obligations by the current NA. It requires however that the Congress first expels the current NA; A decision to approve the use of gender-neutral terms in the FIH Statutes; A decision to extend FIH’s purpose and powers within its Statutes to any virtual or e-gaming activities and competitions for the future As specified in the FIH Statutes (article 2.2(a)(ii)), newly approved Members present at Congress will have the right to participate in meetings of Congress and to cast a vote on resolutions put to Congress. On the eve of the Congress, all delegates have been invited to join a #HockeyInvites virtual conference organised by FIH where a number of topics, such as development, sport matters, gender-equality, promotion or integrity, will be discussed. For more information about FIH and hockey in general, please download the Watch.Hockey app or follow the FIH social media channels – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – and website.

The FIH Playbook, which is the guidance document for FIH tournament protocols during the Covid Pandemic has been a moveable feast since its launch back in May 2020. As the pandemic raged across the globe, effectively putting society, and of course sport, on hold, so hockey had to get used to a new normal. Except there was no ‘normal’. The situation was unprecedented and therefore called for dynamic responses. During the creation of the Playbook, FIH Director of Sport and Development, Jon Wyatt, called on the expertise and advice of people from a wide range of backgrounds. The document aims to provide a guideline for all those involved in the delivery of FIH events. This includes hosts, teams, officials, media and broadcasters and it focuses on providing a safe playing environment for everyone involved. Some of the guidelines will have become second nature now. Wearing of face masks, washing hands, socially distancing – these have all become part and parcel of everyday life. The concept of a team bubble, where everyone involved in a team, including support staff and officials, is something that has grown out of the knowledge gained in the past year. Vaccinations are also a later addition to the original guidelines. In May 2020, vaccinations were way in the future. Now they are very much a reality and the FIH is working closely with the national associations to encourage athletes, officials and stakeholders to be vaccinated before travelling to an event. It is a similar situation when it comes to medical facilities at events. The provision of Covid officers for teams, Covid isolation rooms at hotels and Covid referral hospitals are all developments that could not have been foreseen back in early 2020. As international matches come back onto the calendar, so the Playbook outlines travel guidelines. This includes detailed advice on how to keep everyone as safe as possible on flights, transits from the airport and travel to and from the ground. By complying with all the protocols, including regular testing and maintenance of team bubbles, outlined in the Playbook, by the time the teams and officials arrive at a stadium, it is reasonable to assume that the matches can be played under as normal conditions as possible. It is also important that the sport is seen to be observing all Covid restrictions so on-field behaviour such as spitting is punishable with a card and huddles or goal celebrations are heavily discouraged. Jon Wyatt has been at the heart of developing the FIH Playbook and he explained how it was important that the guidelines remained quite generic, so they could be adapted to meet local rules and government protocols. “Whilst the COVID circumstances around the world are continually changing, hopefully for the better as the vaccine programmes are rolled out, we felt it was important to provide some principles which can be followed for all hockey events, and obviously then adapted in line with local rules and Government protocols,” said Wyatt. “As such, the document has been kept quite generic. It has been challenging, and will be updated regularly, but it is an important document and part of our duty to help all involved in hockey events around the world to get back up and running and onto hockey pitches everywhere.” Of course hockey is far from alone in this regard and there has been plenty of collusion with other sports to adopt best practices. However, as Wyatt points out, there are some situations that are specific to hockey and these can be both helpful – hockey is an outdoor sport and there is no need to touch the ball with their hands – or a hindrance – indoor hockey is played indoor and defenders at penalty corners (pre-Covid) used to share protective equipment. Aside from learning from within hockey and from other experiences of other sports, there has been many other inputs. These include the FIH document Return to Hockey and Pro League guides, the IOC/Tokyo2020 Playbooks, World Health Organization guides and COVID guidelines from other sporting events that have taken place. As Wyatt says: “We hope the Playbook is a helpful resource for our national associations and continental federations who are planning upcoming hockey events and that it contributes towards providing safe environments for players, coaches, officials, the hockey media and spectators to get back to hockey events in the coming weeks and months.” #FIHCovidPlaybook