MALAYSIAN MEN'S HOCKEY TEAM - EUROPE TOUR MATCHES & OTHER JWC UPDATES

The long wait for some action is over as National Men’s Hockey Team looks forward to a playing tour in Europe in which will begin tomorrow.

Last overseas tour was in October 2019 when they played a series of matches in Holland before they faced Britain during the Tokyo Olympic qualifiers in London.

The 23-player squad will play 10 matches, four matches against club sides and six matches against Ireland, Wales and France.

The National Team will take on Old Georgians on Sept 26; Surbiton (Sept 28); Hampstead & Westminster (Sept 29) and Beeston (Oct 1).

They take on Ireland (Oct 5 and 6); Wales (Oct 9 and 12); and France (Oct 15 and 18).

Based on TMS, the 2 matches against Ireland are registered matches or official test matches and the rest 8 matches are unofficial matches.

Today will discuss the Official 2 Matches – Malaysia vs Ireland:

This 2 matches has world rankings impact. Looking at last 5 years Head to Head, Malaysia has beaten Ireland  4-1 in 2018 - 27th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup (M) & 2-1 in 2019 4 Nations Invitational Tournament (M) Terrassa (ESP). Malaysia has good records against Ireland.

The 2 matches will be played in Hillsborough (IRL) on 5^th & 6^th Oct at Ireland time at 6.30pm & 7.30pm (for Msian time plus 7hrs).

Both teams failed to play in the recent 2020 Tokyo Olympics and currently, Malaysia is ranked 11^th with 1481 points whereas Ireland at 14 with1274.925. This 2 matches are crucial for both teams as it will allow to push your rankings higher.

Another 2 unofficial matches against France ranked at 13^th with 1344.801 will provide valuable insights about our standards where we are in world hockey and France is undergoing a rebuilding after Coach Jerome Delmee has left to be Head Coach of Holland and Fred Soyez returns as Head Coach of France whereas Max Caldas joins as Head Coach of Spain.

Basically, the first 4 matches against the Club is just a warm up matches before playing the 6 matches against the National Teams. Matches against Wales (ranked 17^th with 1012.008) would be easy and last Head to Head, Malaysia beat Wales 2-1 in Men's FIH Series Finals 2019 in Kuala Lumpur.

But against Ireland & France it will be a steep challenge and a real test even Malaysia is ranked well than this both teams.

The Teams such as Ireland, Wales and France are preparing for FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 - European Qualifier 2021 Cardiff (WAL) 21 - 24 Oct 2021 where another 2 slots available for teams to qualify for 2023 Men's World Cup.

Other updates:

Following last week’s announcement by Hockey Australia and Hockey New Zealand that they will no longer be able to participate to the FIH Odisha Hockey Men's Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021 due to COVID-related international travel restrictions put in place by their respective governments, both teams have been replaced by the USA and Canada.

As announced by Hockey India earlier today, the event (24 November – 5 December) will take place in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, the outstanding venue which will also host the next FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup in 2023.

 

The match schedule, involving 16 teams, will be communicated at a later stage.

KANABATHU Ilanggo selected as an Umpire and he is sole Official from Malaysia. No any Technical Official.

 

Following last week’s announcement by Hockey Australia and Hockey New Zealand that they will no longer be able to participate to the FIH Hockey Women's Junior World Cup South Africa 2021 due to COVID-related international travel restrictions put in place by their respective governments, both teams have been replaced by Argentina and Ireland.

Have a great weekend and stay safe always...

Malaysia to host the 2023 Men’s Junior World Cup and what are the fact sheet & obligations for hosting such event?

Good Morning everyone…

Today would like to write about Malaysia to host the 2023 Men’s Junior World Cup and what are the fact sheet & obligations for hosting such event? This write up will provide more insights to all my readers.

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 held every four years. Competitors must be under the age of 21 as of December 31 in the year before the tournament is held.

There is also a corresponding event for the women's junior teams. This competition started in 1989 and uses the same format as the men's event. Malaysian Women Juniors has never ever played in JWC level.

On 15^th Dec 2018 - The International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced that henceforth the Junior World Cup will be held every two years.

On 2^nd July 2021 - International Hockey Federation (FIH) has appointed Malaysia as the host country for the 2023 FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup and Chile for the 2023 FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup. The matches will be played in Kuala Lumpur and Santiago, respectively.

Congratulations for hosting the 2023 Men’s Junior World Cup.

The Fact Sheet & Obligations:

Hosting Fee

In consideration of the rights granted, Malaysia shall pay to the FIH a fee (the “Hosting Fee”) of CHF 250’000,-net of all taxes. It will be about RM 1,135,000.

Insurance

Malaysia must procure

• Third-party liability insurance (min. CHF 3,500,000) –

• Cancellation / curtailment / rescheduling / abandonment insurance

Broadcast

• All domestic and international broadcast, video and online rights are the property of FIH;

• All matches will be live streamed on the FIH OTT platform – matches will be broadcasted in territories where there is interest by an existing or new FIH Broadcast Partner;

• Malaysia is to provide all reasonable assistance in fulfilling any commitments and obligations to any host broadcaster and/or production services company (services and facilities at the venue).

Commercial Rights

The following packages are allocated and may be sold respectively by FIH and Malaysia for the event. 

                                                          FIH                                MALAYSIA 

Presenting Partner                           1 package 

Host Partner                                                                             1 package 

Global / Official Partner                   4 packages                          4 packages 

Global / Official Supplier                3 packages                          3 packages                                                                                                                                  Malaysia must deliver

• The FIH + Host NA commercial rights incl. the production of required assets (e.g. perimeter boards, media backdrops, event programme, etc.)

• Certain tickets (VIP + general admission) to FIH and its commercial partners free of charge and/or at reduced price

• Hospitality and catering services/facilities at the venue

Event Officials / Personnel

Event Officials (appointed by FIH):

- 1 Technical Delegate, 1 FIH Medical Officer, 6 Technical Officials, 2 Umpire Managers, 14 Umpires;

- Event Officials must be reimbursed of visa costs and be provided with flights, accommodation, transportation and a per diem (60,00 EUR) by the Host NA;

   Appointments of Event Officials will mainly come from the same Continent and surrounding countries in order to reduce the costs as much as possible;

Qualified and dedicated personnel to ensure fulfilment of Host’s obligations and to run the event.

Services

• Accommodation:

Contingents of rooms in at least three official hotels that can be booked by teams, FIH Officials, FIH Staff, commercial guests, media and broadcast partners;

• Flights:

The Host NA must provide return travel tickets for all Event Officials, except the FIH Representative and FIH Staff – participating teams are responsible to arrange and cover their return travel tickets themselves;

• Transportation:

-   Transportation from airport to hotel and vice versa for Teams (with Team-dedicated buses), Event Officials, FIH Officials, FIH Staff;

-   Transportation from hotel to venue and vice versa for Teams (with Team-dedicated buses), Event Officials, FIH Officials, FIH Staff, FIH Commercial Partners and Guests, VIPs;

-   Regular shuttle bus between hotel and venue for Media and Broadcast;

• Appropriate safety, security, medical, technology and spectator services as well as sport presentation; Accreditation passes for teams & all relevant stakeholders.

Malaysia must prepare and submit an Event budget no later than twelve (12) months after Host NA selection and must provide FIH with regular progress reports of expenditure against budget every six (6) months after this leading up to the Event, aligned with the quarterly progress reports. A final budget, including audited statements, must be submitted one (1) month after the end of the Event as part of the post-Event report.

It should be noted that all costs associated with planning and delivering the Event are the responsibility of the Host NA.

Qualification

Teams will qualify for the FIH Junior Hockey World Cup through continental events to be played in 2022 and 2023. The quota will be a minimum of two teams per Continental Federation for each gender. The detailed qualification process and quota will be confirmed by FIH in 2022.

Age Limit

All players shall be under 21 years of age as of 31 December 2022 that is all players shall be born on or after 1 January 2002.

Match Schedule

The standard match schedule for the 2023 FIH Junior Hockey World Cup:

• Four (4) pools of four (4) teams each

• A total of 48 matches incl.

-          3 pool matches for each team 24 matches

-          Quarter-finals & classification matches, places 9-16 16 matches

-          Semi-finals & classification matches, places 5-8 6 matches

-          Gold & bronze medal match 2 matches

The above is foreseen to be played across eight (8) – eleven (11) days (incl. two [2] rest days).

Event Dates

The event dates for 2023 shall fall into the following periods:

Option 1: July 2023

Option 2: December 2023 FIH Junior Hockey World Cup 2023 Men

This will be a massive mammoth task – administratively & financially for Malaysia to raise sponsorship close to 3 to 5 million to full fill the obligations.

More so, less than 2 years, we do not have an “Under 19 National Team” that is assemble & undergoing a good periodization plan to participate in the 2023 KL Men’s Junior World Cup.

Even for 2021 Men’s JW, the Malaysian Junior team is ill prepared and undergoing massive bottle neck issues since 2016. Many changes in Coaches, players and no any international exposure. Covid19 is their excuses.

Looks like both 2021 JWC & 2023 JWC teams will be only good for participation and the overall results would not be promising. The worst part is this both teams’ players will be the key players for 2024 & 2028 Olympics and 2026 & 2030 Asian Games with 2026 & 2030 Senior World Cup. We could see that there will be a massive repercussions in the next 6 to 10 years for Malaysian Hockey. Don’t say that we didn’t warn you…

Rather than hosting the 2023 Men’s JWC, we would prefer if Women JWC is hosted as we have never played in Women JWC since 1989. Or use the funds for development hockey program and provide support to its affiliates.

That’s all for today….

Have a great weekend and stay safe always.