The first meeting of the new Executive Board of the FIH was held in Brussels on April 22.
Calzado honoured
The new Executive Board had great pleasure in inviting Juan Angel Calzado (ESP), the retiring FIH President, to become an FIH Member of Honour.
Board composition
The composition of Executive Board was confirmed. It includes two appointed members. They are Bob Davidzon (NED) and Steve Jaspan (South Africa - RSA). Davidzon is the new Chairman of the Marketing, Media and PR group, Jaspan, the Chairman of the new Events and Competitions Group.
New Committee Chairmen
The appointment of new FIH Committee Chairmen was finalised and approved. They are:
EVENTS/COMPETITIONS Committee: Steve Jaspan (RSA). Umpiring Committee: Graham NASH (ENG).
TECHNICAL Committee: Annabel Dillon (SIN). Equipment Committee: Allan Woods (USA). Medical Committee: Dr. Kathleen Watson (JAM).
HOCKEY RULES BOARD: Brig. Manzoor Atif (PAK).
DEVELOPMENT and COACHING Committee: Theo Ykema (NED).
MARKETING, MEDIA and P.R.: Bob Davidzon (NED). Media & P.R Committee:
David BURT (ENG).
DISCIPLINARY Committee: H.R.H Sultan Azlan Shah (MAS).
ATHLETES PANEL: Rechelle Hawkes (AUS).
The following Committee Secretaries have been confirmed:
Rules - Roger Webb (ENG).
DCC - Fumio Ogura (JPN)/Anne Ellis (WAL).
MMPR - Steve Morris (FIH).
Events - Dennis Meredith (FIH).
All other appointments of secretaries are subject to the final approval of the Executive Board.
The next Executive Board meeting will be held in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 20/21 July, during the Mens World Cup Qualifier.
New Events Manager
Dennis Meredith (AUS) was confirmed as the new FIH events manager. He has been involved extensively in sports administration at all levels. He represented Australia 22 times and was an Olympic Games and World Cup umpire. He is currently an FIH umpires’ manager and was the FIH umpiring development officer for Asia 1999-2000.
Website
Sportcentric, a UK based web company, are to operate the new FIH website. This was decided following a presentation to the Executive Board by David Burt, then Chairman of the Media and PR Committee, and Steven Morris, Marketing and Communications Manager.
The new partnership with Sportcentric will mean a website that is easy to update (therefore more up-to-date), more comprehensive, and more accessible.
World Cup dates changed
A Formula 1 Grand Prix is to be held in 2002 in Malaysia on 17 March, exactly the same dates as scheduled for hockey’s men’s World Cup finals. It was recognised that the media coverage of a Grand Prix is such that it would overshadow the important hockey finals.
Consultation took place with the nine qualified countries, and it was agreed that the only option is to bring the hockey tournament one week earlier, that being subject to the approval of the Malaysian hockey organisers.
Confirmation has since been received and the event will take place from Feb 25 - March 9, 2002.
Champions Trophy 2002
Belgium has withdrawn as host for the men’s and women’s 2002 Champions Trophy for financial and organisational reasons.
Five national associations have expressed interest in bidding for the event. Argentina, China, Germany, India and Spain will be asked to submit official bids before July lst. 2001, based on the FIH bidding requirements.
New Zealand Case
New Zealand presented their case, at being excluded from the men’s World Cup in Edinburgh, Scotland, which they had planned to put before the Court of Sport Arbitration (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland in May.
New Zealand decided to withdraw their case after assurances that the FIH would strongly supports their qualification into the 17th. Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England (July/August 2002) and will look upon the opportunity for New Zealand to host a world level event in the near future.
70,000 Euros for Development
Proposals to allocate finances for Development projects in 30 countries, made by Theo Ykema, the DCC chairman, were approved. The total to be distributed will be Euros 70,000.
Next Congress
The next FIH Congress will be held in November, 2002.
