Ireland’s quest to qualify for major tournaments looks set to be made much tougher after details of a new worldwide league were announced yesterday.
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) yesterday announced the format of the FIH World League, which will make its debut in 2012 and is designed to make the qualification process for major men’s and women’s international tournaments, such as the Olympics and World Cup, more democratic.
The tournament will qualify four teams directly into the 2014 World Cup, altering a process which, for Ireland, is currently based on their performance in the bi-annual European championships.
“We are delighted to be moving ahead with the World League competition,” said FIH chief executive Kelly Fairweather.
“We have long wanted to start an international competition that goes over multiple rounds and gives every nation a change to reach our elite events. With the World League, we have just that.”
The competition, which has also previously been referred to as the World Series, will be played over four rounds. The first two rounds will take place in the 2012 calendar year, while the third and fourth rounds will conclude the cycle in 2013. Teams have until April 1 to confirm their participation.
The teams ranked first through eighth in the FIH World Ranking will receive an automatic bye to round three. Teams ranked in the next tier, 9th-16th, will get an automatic ticket to round two. FIH World Ranking points will be awarded at each level.
For Ireland, this means the women’s side, currently ranked 15th, will get a bye to round two, but the men’s side (18th) will begin their campaign in the first round. The number of first round tournaments will depend entirely on the number of entries received by the FIH.
The new format ostensibly makes their task harder in terms of qualifying for major tournaments. Where they previously could hope to shock the bigger European teams at a one-off tournament, they will now have to defeat higher-ranked nations on a more consistent basis to be in with a shout.
Fairweather sees this differently, however, saying: “It has long been the ambition of the FIH to give every country a chance to make it to the highest possible level. The World League gives the smaller nations valuable international experience, while allowing them to have the chance to play the role of David against some of the Goliath countries.”
It is expected that the first round of competition will be kept as local as possible to keep travel costs to a minimum. Eight teams will qualify from round two, forming a 16-team round three that will be played off in two groups of eight.
Host nations for 2012/13 FIH World League
Men’s Rd 3A: Pakistan (February 2013); Rd 3B: Germany (June 2013); Rd 4: India (September 2013);
Women’s Rd 3A: Netherlands (June 2013); Rd 3B: China (June 2013); Rd 4: Argentina (December 2013).
