England men have been drawn with world and defending champions Belgium at next year’s EuroHockey Championships in Amsterdam.
The men’s and women’s Euros have been moved to June 4-13 2021 following the decision to postone the Tokyo Olympics until next August.
Wales men, who retained their place in the Euro elite, are pitted in the same group as newcomers France, Germany and hosts Holland.
Meanwhile, England women will look to return to medal-winning ways when they tackle Germany, Belgium and Italy in their pool for a place in the semi-finals.
Erik Gerritsen, Dutch hockey’s chief executive, said: “We are fully aware that it is anything but certain that we can organise the EuroHockey Championships in June 2021 under ‘normal’ circumstances.
“Nobody knows what the situation with regard to the coronavirus will be then. All we know is that it is not yet possible to organize large public events in The Netherlands. That is why we are not yet starting ticket sales, but we will be looking at the situation in the coming months and the prospects for public events. ”
Men Pool A: Belgium, England, Spain, Russia
Men Pool B: Holland, Germany, France, Wales
Women Pool A: Holland, Spain, Ireland, Scotland
Women Pool B: Germany, England, Belgium, Italy
Meanwhile, the EuroHockey Championship II will take place in Poland (men) and Prague (women) from Aug 15-21.
The dates will affect some athletes representing their nations at the Tokyo Olympics, which finish on Aug 8.
Scotland’s Alan Forsyth wrote on social media: “So what your saying is if I’m lucky enough to be selected to play in the Olympics for GB (8 games in 13 days) I then get 1 week of rest before having to play again for Scotland in a Europeans 5 games in 7 days?”
