Context

Following the suspension of all International hockey competition in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, and the subsequent postponement of the Tokyo Olympic Games from 2020 to 2021, the FIH have been working with the Continental Federations to reschedule competitions wherever possible.

The core principle has been to attempt to reorganise competitions wherever possible, and to manage the international hockey calendar flexibly to enable this to happen, whilst prioritising athlete health.

Junior Continental Championships

The Junior Continental Championships, which act as the qualification competition for the 2021 Junior World Cups at the end of 2021, were originally due to be completed in 2020. However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, this has not been possible in all continents, with the exception of Europe.

In order to provide opportunity for all competitions to take place, the FIH has extended the window by which they must be completed until May 2021. This is 6 months before the Junior World Cups will take place in India (m) and South Africa(w), and as long as the FIH and the hosts know who the competing nations will be by May then all logistics, marketing and arrangements can still be made in good time.

Qualifying Age Limit

The Age Limit for all competing athletes for the Junior Continental Championships when they were due to take place in 2020 was that “all players shall be under 21 years of age as of 31 December 2019; that is all players shall be born on or after 1 January 1999”.

This age limit remains in place for the Junior Continental Championships, even if the competitions are held before and no later than May 2021, when some players could therefore be 22 years of age.

This is only the case for these reorganised Junior Continental Championships.

Please note that the Age Limit for the Junior World Cup remains as published “All players shall be under 21 years of age as of 31 December 2020 that is all players shall be born on or after 1 January 2000” - http://fih.ch/media/8997774/190403-qualification-system-for-2021-junior-world-cup.pdf

Any questions should be addressed to Eduardo Leonardo, FIH Sport Manager - eduardo.leonardo@fih.ch