Women's Jr World Cup will be played in South Africa in April, Indoor WC cancelled: FIH

The postponed FIH Women's Junior World Cup scheduled to be held in Potchefstroom, South Africa will be organised from April 2 to 13, the International Hockey Federation said on Monday.

However, the FIH and Hockey Belgium have been forced to cancel the 2022 Indoor Hockey World Cup.

The Indoor World Cup was scheduled to be held in Liège, Belgium from February 2 to 6.

The decisions were taken during a virtual meeting of the FIH.

The move to cancel the FIH Indoor World Cup was made on the basis of the current health situation in Belgium amid the COVID-19 pandemic and after extensive consultations and recommendations from all competent authorities in the country.

The Women's Junior Word Cup, which was initially scheduled to be played in December last year, had to be put ''on hold'' due to the outbreak of the Omicron variant.

''Since the postponement of this event, we've been in permanent contact with the South African Hockey Association. ''Based on the reports about the current evolution of the health situation in the country, the EB has confirmed its decision from its December meeting, namely that the tournament should be postponed – and not cancelled - and that South Africa should have priority for hosting it,'' FIH CEO Thierry Weil said in a statement.

''We're aware that the new dates are challenging for some nations – in particular because of Ramadan or the European club calendar – but it was essential for FIH to fully support the wish of the athletes to play. We're looking forward to a great event with hockey's female rising stars.'' The first FIH Hockey Pro League matches of the year, involving the women's teams of China and India, will take place on January 31 and February 1 in Oman.

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