India will become the first country to host consecutive World Cups after being awarded the hosting rights for the men’s 2023 edition.
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced the decision on Friday following recommendations of a Task Force formed to assess the bids for the same. While the men’s event would be held from January 13-29, 2023, the women’s event would be held from July 1-17, 2022. India edged past Belgium and Malaysia, which had expressed interest in hosting the men’s World Cup, and was the only candidate opting for the 2023 window.
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The women’s World Cup would be hosted jointly by Spain and the Netherlands — also the first time the event would be held across multiple countries — in 2022. The FIH had proposed two windows for both events — in 2022 and 2023. The other bidders for the women’s event were Germany (in 2022), Malaysia and New Zealand (in 2023).
While the preliminary rounds, quarterfinals and crossover matches would be split equally between the two hosts, the semifinals, third-place playoff and final would all take place in Spain. The actual venues across the two nations would be decided by the hosts themselves. Spain last hosted the women's World Cup in 2006 and finished while the Netherlands had staged the tournament in 2014, the Dutch women winning the title both times. The format for the men’s event remains unchanged.
The break-up of games for the women’s World Cup:
Preliminary phase: Two pools each in the Netherlands (including the Dutch team) and Spain (including the Spanish team); Quarterfinals: two crossover matches and two quarterfinals each in the Netherlands and Spain; Semifinals, bronze playoff and final: In Spain.
'Excellent bids'
“The FIH has received excellent bids to host these prestigious events. Since the primary mission of FIH is to grow the sport worldwide, which of course requires to make investments, the income-generation potential of each bid has played an important role in the decision,” Weil said.
The hosts would qualify directly, along with continental winners. The other 10 teams — nine for women — would be decided through playoffs in the same format as the Tokyo Olympics qualifiers with the 20 teams involved determined by continental quotas, based on World Rankings at the end of the Olympics and the finishing positions of teams in the continental championships.
The Task Force had submitted its recommendations to the FIH on Wednesday.
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