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MUMBAI: The International Hockey Federation (IHF) has launched
Hockey World League (HWL), a four-round, two-year event which
will serve as the qualifier for both the Hockey World Cup
and the Olympic Games and will record national teams taking
part in FIH events.
"I
am very proud to launch the Hockey World League today,"
FIH President Leandro Negre said at the launch on the day
of the women’s Olympic gold medal game. "This has
been a vision of the FIH’s for a long time and at last
the day is here that we see it become a reality."
The
first round will be made up of 11 tournaments with the historic
first game taking place in just four days in the Czech Republic
when the Scotland and Turkey women’s national teams meet
on 14 August.
In
total men’s and women’s national teams from over
60 nations will take part in the first edition of the Hockey
World League. For 19 of the countries, it will be their first-ever
appearance in an FIH competition.
"Never
before has an international hockey competition been open to
such a wide range of teams and athletes,"Negre said.
"We sit here in London ready to watch the gold medal
game today and four years from now in Rio more than 2000 athletes
will have been a part of the qualification process for the
next Olympics. It is truly an exciting time for hockey."
Those
2,000 athletes will accumulate around 6,000 caps and will
gather FIH World Ranking points that were never-before available.
In addition, around 300 officials will have the chance to
take part in the World League.
"This
is a two-tiered approach," said FIH CEO Kelly Fairweather.
"Not only does it give the FIH a clear qualification
structure for the World Cup and Olympics, but it also provides
a massive development opportunity for all areas of hockey.
Who knows, what the hockey landscape will look like in Rio,
maybe a team from Round 1 will be with us at the next Olympics."
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