29 October 2021 Lausanne, Switzerland: Meeting virtually today, the Executive Board (EB) of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) confirmed the dates of the 2022 FIH Congress which will take place – virtually, as already decided – on 4-5 November next year. Looking back at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, the EB members extended again their utmost gratitude to the IOC as well as the Japanese authorities and organisers for staging outstanding Olympics, despite the unprecedented challenges caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic, and stressed how successful this Olympiad had been for hockey. Regarding the upcoming FIH events, a detailed report was given to the EB about the preparations for the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021 and the FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup South Africa 2021 which will start on 24 November and 5 December respectively. Furthermore, the EB welcomed that FIH, based on its current status in terms of gender equality within the Olympic movement, had recently been approached by the University of Lausanne to be involved in an extensive piece of research regarding women’s participation in decision-making in sport, and confirmed FIH’s willingness to join this project. The last EB meeting of this year will take place on 8 December. For more information about FIH and hockey in general, please download the Watch.Hockey app or follow the FIH social media channels – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – and website. 

6 October 2021 Lausanne, Switzerland: As a likely outcome of India Men’s first Olympic medal for 41 years, as well as the outstanding performance of the Indian Women’s team reaching the last four in Tokyo, India’s athletes and coaches dominate the FIH Hockey Stars Awards 2020-21.       Athletes Gurjit Kaur (Best Player, Women), Harmanpreet Singh (Best Player, Men), Savita (Best Goalkeeper, Women), PR Sreejesh (Best Goalkeeper, Men), Sharmila Devi (Best Rising Star, Women) and Vivek Prasad (Best Rising Star, Men) as well as the coaches of India’s women’s team, Sjoerd Marijne (NED) and India’s men’s team, Graham Reid (AUS) grabbed the highest number of votes in their respective categories. 79 National Associations – represented by their respective national captains and coaches – have voted (Africa: 11 out of 25 Member Associations; Asia: 29 out of 33; Europe: 19 out of 42; Oceania: 3 out of 8; Pan America: 17 out of 30). And with a record number of almost 300’000 fans casting their votes, fan participation in the FIH Hockey Stars Awards has been exceptional. Tellingly, all winning athletes have topped the standings in each of the three voting groups (National Associations / Fans and Players / Media). Belgium (Men) and the Netherlands (Women), who were not only crowned Olympic Champions but also won the 2020-21 FIH Hockey Pro League, as well as the GBR/ENG Women’s team, were also given high recognition by the voting groups. Belgium’s Alexander Hendrickx and Arthur van Doren were voted second and third best Players respectively, with Vincent Vanasch named second best Goalkeeper and Shane McLeod (NZL) second best Coach. For the Netherlands, Eva de Goede and Frédérique Matla clinched the respective second and third places in the FIH Player of the Year Award while Alyson Annan (AUS) finished on the second spot of the FIH Coach of the Year Award. For Great Britain / England, Goalkeeper Maddie Hinch, Rising Star Fiona Crackles and Coach Mark Hager (AUS) all reached the third spot of their respective categories. Every continent is represented in the top three of at least one Award, with Belén Succi (ARG) named second best Goalkeeper and Valentina Raposo (ARG) as well as Mustaphaa Cassiem (RSA) clinching the second place of the FIH Rising Star of the Year Award, while Goalkeeper Andrew Charter (AUS), Rising Star Sean Findlay (NZL) and Coach Colin Batch (AUS) all finished on the third spot of their respective categories. With no FIH Hockey Stars Awards in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 global health pandemic on the international calendar, this year’s awards covered the period from January 2020 through to the conclusion of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The voting process started on 23 August and concluded on 15 September 2021. Votes from National Associations – represented by their respective national captains and coaches – counted for 50% of the overall result, while fans and players (25%) as well as media (25%) made the other half of the votes. RESULTS – WOMEN (Weighted scores) FIH Player of the Year: Gurjit Kaur (IND) – Score: 46,63 points (35,48% of the National Associations votes, 50,67% of the Media votes, 64,89% of the Fans/Players votes) Eva de Goede (NED) – Score: 19,80 pts (25,35% of the National Associations votes, 25,33% of the Media votes, 3,18% of the Fans/Players votes) Frédérique Matla (NED) – Score: 13,49 pts (15,67% of the National Associations votes, 20% of the Media votes, 2,64% of the Fans/Players votes) Agustina Albertarrio (ARG) – Score: 12,79 pts (14,75% of the National Associations votes, 1,33% of the Media votes, 20,31% of the Fans/Players votes) Agustina Gorzelany (ARG) – Score: 4,71 pts (5,07% of the National Associations votes, 1,33% of the Media votes, 7,35% of the Fans/Players votes) Maria Verschoor (NED) – Score: 2,58 pts (3,69% of the National Associations votes, 1,33% of the Media votes, 1,63% of the Fans/Players votes) FIH Goalkeeper of the Year: Savita (IND) – Score: 58.75 (51,38% of the National Associations votes, 63,16% of the Media votes, 69,08% of the Fans/Players votes) Belén Succi (ARG) – Score: 22 pts (24,31% of the National Associations votes, 13,16% of the Media votes, 26,22% of the Fans/Players votes) Maddie Hinch (GBR/ENG) – Score: 19,25 pts (24,31% of the National Associations votes, 23,68% of the Media votes, 4,70% of the Fans/Players votes) FIH Rising Star of the Year: Sharmila Devi (IND) – Score: 55,51 pts (48,39% of the National Associations votes, 58,67% of the Media votes, 66,60% of the Fans/Players votes) Valentina Raposo (ARG) – Score: 29,83 pts (36,41% of the National Associations votes, 17,33% of the Media votes, 29,19% of the Fans/Players votes) Fiona Crackles (GBR/ENG) – Score: 14,66 pts (15,21% of the National Associations votes, 24% of the Media votes, 4,21% of the Fans/Players votes) FIH Coach of the Year: Sjoerd Marijne (NED – Team IND) – Score: 56,33 pts (39,73% of the National Associations votes, 66,22% of the Media votes, 79,66% of the Fans/Players votes) Alyson Annan (AUS – Team NED) – Score: 35,37 pts (49,32% of the National Associations votes, 27,03% of the Media votes, 15,82% of the Fans/Players votes) Mark Hager (AUS – Team GBR/ENG) – Score: 8,30 pts (10,96% of the National Associations votes, 6,76% of the Media votes, 4,52% of the Fans/Players votes) RESULTS – MEN (Weighted scores) FIH Player of the Year: Harmanpreet Singh (IND) – Score: 52,11 pts (42,66% of the National Associations votes, 44% of the Media votes, 79,12% of the Fans/Players votes) Alexander Hendrickx (BEL) – Score: 24,88 pts (25,69% of the National Associations votes, 40% of the Media votes, 8,15% of the Fans/Players votes) Arthur van Doren (BEL) – Score: 12,84 pts (17,43% of the National Associations votes, 12% of the Media votes, 4,51% of the Fans/Players votes) Aran Zalewski (AUS) – Score: 4,46 pts (6,88% of the National Associations votes, 1,33% of the Media votes, 2,76% of the Fans/Players votes) Tim Brand (AUS) – Score: 4,04 pts (5,05% of the National Associations votes, 2,67% of the Media votes, 3,40% of the Fans/Players votes) Jake Whetton

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