The Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) is eyeing to host several international tournaments in the next four years.
MHC president Subahan Kamal said they were offered by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) to host the inaugural men’s Hockey Series Finals in June next year, which serves as a qualifying stage for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
It is likely to be followed by the 2022 Hockey World Cup with the MHC looking forward to hosting, if not both, either men’s or women’s edition of the tournament.
"We were offered by the FIH to host the brand new Hockey Series Finals as they believe we have the infrastructure and capabilities to do so. The FIH sees Malaysia as a great venue to host world-class events," Subahan told a press conference at the National Hockey Stadium on Thursday.
"We are also serious about hosting both the men and women’s editions of the 2022 World Cup because our boys and girls show tremendous improvement and are able to compete with any world-class team.
"However, any final decision before approaching the FIH will only be made during an Executive Board meeting on June 3."
For the record, Malaysia hosted the Men’s Hockey World Cup in 1975 and 2002, and the women’s edition in 1983.
As for the Hockey Series, it is a new format introduced by the FIH to replace the Hockey World League, which will see national teams compete in preliminary rounds to advance to the Finals.
A minimum of 15 teams will qualify for the Finals, joined by the nine highest placed teams not playing in the Hockey Pro League (HPL).
A total of three Finals events (eight teams each) will be held, with six teams progressing to the final round, namely, the Olympic qualification matches, where they will be joined by the top four HPL teams and two teams based on world rankings.
The 12 teams will play a two-legged tie to decide six qualified nations for Tokyo 2020.
Another six teams that will compete in Tokyo are five continental champions and host nation Japan.
Bernama
Fri May 18 2018
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