Abbreviation FIH Region served Worldwide | Headquarters Lausanne, Switzerland | |
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Motto FairPlay Friendship Forever Formation 7 January 1924; 93 years ago (1924-01-07) Type Federation of national associations | ||
The Fédération Internationale de Hockey (English: International Hockey Federation), commonly known by the acronym FIH is the international governing body of field hockey and indoor field hockey. Its headquarters are located in Lausanne, Switzerland and president is Narinder Batra. FIH is responsible for field hockey's major international tournaments, notably the World Cup.
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History
FIH was founded on 7 January 1924 in Paris by Paul Léautey, who became the first president, in response to field hockey's omission from the programme of the 1924 Summer Olympics. First members complete to join the seven founding members were Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Hungary, Spain and Switzerland.
In 1982, the FIH merged with the International Federation of Women's Hockey Associations (IFWHA), which had been founded in 1927 by Australia, Denmark, England, Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, the United States and Wales.
The organisation is based in Lausanne, Switzerland since 2005, having moved from Brussels, Belgium.
In April 2016, International Hockey Federation announces a new annual global home and away league, to be launched in 2019 involving the world's leading hockey nations, which will replace Hockey World League (HWL) Semi-Finals and Finals and the Champions Trophy. FIH also decided that Champions Trophy -- held once in two years since 1978 -- will be scrapped and the 2018 edition in Amsterdam will be the last tournament.
Structure
In total, there are 128 member associations within the five confederations recognised by FIH. This includes Great Britain which is recognised as an adherent member of FIH, the team was represented at the Olympics and the Champions Trophy. England, Scotland and Wales are also represented by separate teams in FIH sanctioned tournaments.
AfHF – African Hockey Federation AsHF – Asian Hockey Federation EHF – European Hockey Federation OHF – Oceania Hockey Federation PaHF – Pan American Hockey FederationThe FIH World Rankings was updated once after the major tournament finished, based on FIH sanction tournaments.
Recognition and awards
The Player of the Year Awards have been given annually since 1998 for men and women, while the young category was added in 2001 to honour the best performances for junior players (under 21).
Another award, the "Honorary Award", was given to people who have made outstanding contributions to field hockey.
Since 2006, FIH has named All-Star Teams.
Outdoor
Indoor
Partners
The following are the partners of the International Hockey Federation: