World hockey has confirmed its intention to hold a first senior Hockey 5s tournament – in its own backyard.
The FIH will showcase a weekend event on Sep 11 and 12 in Lausanne, Switzerland with further details on teams and format to be released shortly.
The event’s rubber-stamping from the FIH executive board this week is the latest indication that Hockey 5s is fast-becoming an integral part of the sport’s outlook.
In 2019, the FIH first created the idea of an FIH Hockey5s World Cup – the inaugural edition which is planned for 2023.
World hockey has also indicated that it will organise a Hockey5s World Tour, with the Lausanne event setting a template for taking the shortened format to cities across the globe to reach a new audience.
The Hockey 5s outdoors concept aligns with other major sports seeing success in a quicker, fast-paced environment such as cricket’s T20 and rugby sevens.
Hockey 5s will also be an integral part of the FIH’s new eight-year global hockey calander, which was also approved by the executive board this week.
“This is a major step and long-awaited document which shall help scheduling competitions in a coordinated manner worldwide, for the benefit of all hockey stakeholders,” a release stated.
The FIH added that events up until 2024 had been finalised while the subsequent cycle up until the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 will be confirmed on an annual basis – and at least four years in advance.
Meanwhile, the FIH Pro League match schedule for 2021/22 has also been confirmed. Matches will be played between October and June.
