Australia and New Zealand pull out of Junior World Cups and FIH Pro League

As reported first, Hockey Australia (HA) and Hockey New Zealand (HNZ) have decided to pull out of the upcoming FIH tournaments, including the men’s and women’s Junior World Cups and the FIH Pro League “as a result of Covid-related government travel restrictions and uncertainty.

“The Junior World Cups are scheduled to be held in India (men) and South Africa (women) in November-December this year. The venue of the men’s edition is yet to be confirmed but likely to be Odisha. The women’s tournament will be held in Potchefstroom.

Australia and New Zealand’s decision to remain absent from the FIH tournaments is based upon the mandatory quarantine requirement for anybody visiting or returning to the two Tasman nations.

Announcing their pull-out decisions formally on Friday, HA and HNZ confirmed that they would be “unable to host or participate in FIH events scheduled between now and June 2022.”

“Based on risk assessment and current Australian government health advice, Hockey Australia is not considering overseas hockey-related trips at this time,” said HA Acting CEO, Michael Johnston, in a press release.“

The decision on our (Australia and New Zealand) absence from the FIH Pro League was a collective one agreed on by all nations based primarily on other countries’ difficulty or inability to travel into Australia and New Zealand.

“In Australia, it is apparent the easing of international travel restrictions is still a way off and none of the competing countries wanted to enter the next Pro League season without a level of assuredness,” Jonston added.

Apart from the Junior World Cups and the Pro League, Hockey Australia categorically mentioned that their team has also decided to stay away from the Indoor Hockey World Cup to be held in February next year in Belgium and the Masters Indoor World Cup in the USA at the same time.

Confirming the decision, Hockey New Zealand CEO, Anthony Crummy, said: “The current Covid-19 situation and the unlikelihood of any change to travel restrictions in the near future, combined with health and wellbeing considerations, mean it is just not possible to participate in these events”.

HA’s High Performance Pathways Manager, Ian Rutledge, shared the same notion.

“Hockey Australia’s top priority is the safety and wellbeing of its athletes and staff and this decision reflects that,” said Rutledge.

It remains to be seen which the next best-placed teams are from Oceania to take Australia and New Zealand’s place in the men’s and women’s Junior World Cups.

Both Australia and New Zealand will now be back in action in a multi-nation event starting with the women’s World Cup in July next year, followed by the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.