Malaysia’s bid to host the next World Cup Hockey looks all the more difficult with India confirming their intentions to host the event.
India, who have already hosted the event three times previously including in Bhubaneswar last year, is almost certain to bring along a financially strong bid.
Hockey has a huge following in India and draws considerable sponsorship as well as broadcast rights to the FIH.
India are proposing to host the tournament in January 2023 while Malaysia and Belgium are proposing to host the event in July 2022.
Malaysia have hosted the World Cup twice before in 1975 and in 2002. Malaysia’s best ever finish at the World Cup was fourth place when they were hosts in 1975. In the last two editions of the World Cup, Malaysia finished 15th and 12th respectively.
Malaysia are also bidding to host the women’s World Cup and would be up against the bids from Germany, Spain and New Zealand. There is also a joint bid from Spain and Netherlands.
For the women’s World Cup, both Malaysia and New Zealand have proposed the January 2023 timeline while the other bids for the July 2022 timeline.
FIH CEO Thierry Weil in a statements said: “It’s great to
see that so many national associations and countries want to host our
quadrennial flagship events. This is encouraging for the further growth of our
sport.”
The FIH Task Force would meet on 6 November to examine all bids and make a
recommendation to the Executive Board (EB). The EB will make the final decision
on both events’ hosts on 8 November 2019 during their next meeting in Lausanne.
The bids received are as follows:
For the preferred time window 1-17 July 2022:
– Germany: Women’s World Cup
– Spain: Women’s World Cup
– Spain/Netherlands: Women’s World Cup
– Belgium: Men’s World Cup
– Malaysia: Men’s World Cup
For the preferred time window 13-29 January 2023:
– India: Men’s World Cup
– Malaysia: Women’s World Cup
– New Zealand: Women’s World Cup
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