The news that the Tokyo Olympics has been rescheduled for next July could impact the staging of the 2021 EuroHockey Championships.
As it stands, there could be as many as three major hockey events in one year after the announcement that sport’s biggest event will start almost exactly one year after the Tokyo Games were originally due to start this year. The opening ceremony will take place on July 23, 2021.
It means that the Olympics – which will still be called Tokyo 2020 – will also start nearly one year from the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, which will be held between 27 July and 7 August and will mark the 10th anniversary of the London Games.
Further, there is still the possibility that the EuroHockey 2021 Championships will also take place next year.
The European Hockey Federation wouldn’t confirm anything concrete when contacted by The Hockey Paper, with its stance still in line with an announcement made last week by EHF president Marijke Fleuren.
“As the Tokyo Olympic Games has been postponed we will advise of changes (if any) to the EuroHockey 2021 calendar once the new Olympic dates are announced,” she said.
“At present, all 2021 EuroHockey events will go ahead as scheduled.”
Currently, the 2021 EuroHockey is due to start in Amsterdam just 13 days after the close of next year’s Olympics and featuring most of world hockey’s top men’s and women’s nations.
There had been talk of switching the Tokyo Olympics to spring next year, which would have coincided with the blooming of Japan’s cherry blossoms.
That would have left a gap to keep the 2021 EuroHockey’s dates in place. Monday’s news must now mean that is under threat.
