FIH Executive Board meeting a success

LAUSANNE – The Executive Board of the FIH met over the weekend and made some key decisions on different topics surrounding international hockey.

While the session was one of the three scheduled annual meetings on the FIH calendar, it was a historical one as it was the first time that the Executive Board met as a 17-member group as opposed to the previous 27-member model. It was decided to trim the number of Executive Board members at the last FIH Congress in Montreux in December.

“It was a very productive weekend,” said FIH President Leandro Negre. “With the smaller group, there was a new dynamic and we were able to reach several decisions and take action on many key points. I was very pleased with the outcome of the meeting.”

Numerous topics were on the three-day agenda, and below is a summary of the key decisions and actions that were made during the weekend.

· The updated Statutes were accepted and will be edited and posted on www.FIH.ch.

· The Committee restructure was also accepted. The FIH will now have six active committees: Appointments, Athletes, Audit, Competitions, Rules and Umpires. In addition, advisory panels were also approved for the areas of medical, equipment and high performance/ coaching.

· The qualification system for the London 2012 Olympic Summer Games, agreed at the Executive Board meeting in Montreux, was confirmed.

· The FIH will open a bidding process to host the 2012 and 2014 Congresses. The letter of invitation will be sent out from the FIH office soon.

· The FIH Strategic Plan will be broken down into smaller two-year sections to better enable the evaluation of the action points. The 2011-2012 cycle will focus on the following six areas:

o Communications and new website implementation

o Project Brazil

o Complementary game and Indoor Hockey

o Internal structure and processes, committees and Continental Federations.

o Project India

o Maximizing FIH events, World League and the rights model

The Executive Board also discussed several on-going issues including the preparation of the Brazilian national team for the 2016 Olympic Summer Games, formalizing the plans for the upcoming World League and the new staff structure, which will be finalized and implemented in the upcoming months. A panel was also formed to look into how Indoor Hockey and other complementary games can best be promoted and utilized.

The Executive Board will next meet during the Rabo Women’s Champions Trophy in late June in the Netherlands.