The Fédération Internationale de Hockey (English: International Hockey Federation), commonly known by the

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

FIH, is the international governing body of

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

and

indoor field hockey Indoor hockey is an indoor variant of field hockey. It is similar to the outdoor game in that two teams compete to move a hard ball into the goal of the opposing side using hockey sticks. Indoor hockey is played on a smaller area and between sm ...

. Its headquarters are in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. FIH is responsible for field hockey's major international tournaments, notably the Hockey World Cup.

History

FIH was founded on 7 January 1924 in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

by Paul Léautey, who became the first president, in response to field hockey's omission from the programme of the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The o ...

. First members complete to join the seven founding members were Austria,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

, Czechoslovakia, France, Hungary, Spain, and Switzerland. In 1983, the FIH merged with the International Federation of Women's Hockey Associations (IFWHA), which had been founded in 1927 by

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

, Denmark,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, South Africa, the United States, and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. The organisation has been based in

, Switzerland since 2005, having moved from

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

, Belgium. In response to the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. A ...

, the FIH banned Russia from the

2022 Women's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup The 2022 Women's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup is the ninth edition of the Women's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup, the biennial women's under-21 field hockey world championship organized by the International Hockey Federation. It was scheduled to be h ...

, and banned Russian and Belarusian officials from FIH events.

Structure

In total, there are 140 member associations within the five confederations recognised by FIH. This includes Great Britain which is recognised as an adherent member of FIH, the team was represented at the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

and the Champions Trophy. England, Scotland and Wales are also represented by separate teams in FIH sanctioned tournaments. : AfHF – African Hockey Federation : AHF – Asian Hockey Federation : EHF – European Hockey Federation : OHF – Oceania Hockey Federation : PAHF – Pan American Hockey Federation The

FIH World Rankings The FIH Men's World Ranking is a ranking system for men's national teams in field hockey. The teams of the member nations of International Hockey Federation (FIH), field hockey's world governing body, are ranked based on their game results. The ra ...

was updated once after the major tournament finished, based on FIH sanction tournaments.

Presidents

The following is a list of presidents of FIH:

Recognition and awards

The Player of the Year Awards have been given annually since 1998 for men and women, while the young category was added in 2001 to honour the best performances for junior players (under 21). Another award, the "Honorary Award", was given to people who have made outstanding contributions to field hockey.

FIH tournaments

Outdoor

;Major *

Men's FIH Hockey World Cup The Men's FIH Hockey World Cup is an international field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The tournament was started in 1971. It is held every four years, bridging the four years between the Summer O ...

Women's FIH Hockey World Cup The Women's FIH Hockey World Cup is the field hockey World Cup competition for women, whose format for qualification and the final tournament is similar to the men's. It has been held since 1974. The tournament has been organized by the Internat ...

* Men's FIH Pro League *

Women's FIH Pro League The Women's FIH Pro League is an international women's field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH), which replaces the Women's FIH Hockey World League. The competition also serves as a qualifier for the Hocke ...

* Field hockey at the Summer Olympics in cooperation with

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...

* Men's FIH Hockey Nations Cup *

Women's FIH Hockey Nations Cup The Women's FIH Hockey Nations Cup is an international women's field hockey tournament organised annually by the International Hockey Federation. The tournament serves as the qualification tournament for the Women's FIH Pro League. The tournament ...

* FIH Hockey5s World Cup ;Junior *

Men's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup The Men's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup, formerly known as the Hockey Junior World Cup, is an international field hockey competition organized by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The tournament was started in 1979. Since 1985 it has been ...

Women's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup The Women's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup, formerly known as the Women's Hockey Junior World Cup, is the field hockey Junior World Cup competition for women, with the format for qualification and the final tournament similar to the men's. It is org ...

* Field hockey at the Youth Olympic Games in cooperation with

;Defunct * Champions Trophy *

Men's Hockey Champions Challenge I The Men's Hockey Champions Challenge I was an international men's field hockey tournament, played every two years. It was introduced in 2001 by the International Hockey Federation The Fédération Internationale de Hockey (English: Interna ...

Men's Hockey Champions Challenge II The Men's Hockey Champions Challenge II was an international field hockey competition introduced by the International Hockey Federation The Fédération Internationale de Hockey (English: International Hockey Federation), commonly known by th ...

* Men's Hockey World League *

Women's Hockey Champions Challenge I The Women's Hockey Champions Challenge I was an international field hockey tournament, played every two years. It was introduced in 2002 by the International Hockey Federation in order to broaden hockey's competitive base at world level. The Cha ...

* Women's Hockey Champions Challenge II * Women's Hockey World League *

FIH Hockey Series The FIH Hockey Series, also known as the FIH Series, was an international field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The competition, was also a qualifier for the Olympic Games. The first edition was in 2018, ...

;Other *Masters Hockey World Cup *Grand Master Hockey World Cup *

International Children's Games The International Children's Games (ICG) is an International Olympic Committee-sanctioned event held every year where children from cities around the world and between the ages of 12 and 15 participate in a variety of sports and cultural activitie ...

Indoor

Men's Indoor Hockey World Cup The Men's Indoor Hockey World Cup is an international indoor field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The tournament was first held in 2003 and it is held every four years. Format Twelve qualified teams wi ...

Women's Indoor Hockey World Cup The Women's Indoor Hockey World Cup is an international indoor field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation, International Hockey Federation (FIH). The tournament was first held in 2003 Women's Indoor Hockey World Cup, ...

Title holders

Partners

The following are the partners of the International Hockey Federation: *

Hero MotoCorp Hero MotoCorp Limited (formerly Hero Honda) is an Indian multinational motorcycle and scooter manufacturer headquartered in New Delhi. The company is one of the largest two-wheeler manufacturers in the world, as well as in India, where it h ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Field hockey organizations Organisations based in Lausanne Sports organizations established in 1924 1924 establishments in France