The International Hockey Federation (FIH) on Wednesday announced that 15 National Associations, including India, have advanced in the selection process for the forthcoming global Home and Away League, beginning in 2019. 13 National Associations remain part of the selection process for the women’s League, with 12 still in contention for places in the men’s League.

With a maximum of nine teams taking part in each League when it commences, the process remains particularly competitive going into the final assessment stage for this ground-breaking competition, the FIH said in a statement.

Argentina, Australia, Belgium, England, Germany, India, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand and Spain submitted applications for both their men’s and women’s teams. China, Japan and USA for their women’s teams and Malaysia and Pakistan for their men’s teams.

The latest phase of the application process required the National Associations to complete an extensive online questionnaire before the deadline of the April 30. This provides the FIH Event Portfolio Implementation Panel (EPIP) with in-depth information based on various aspects of their hosting and participation capabilities.

This included information about financial sustainability, commercial vision, legal compliance, proposed venues, organisation and personnel, event delivery and presentation, team performance history, marketing strategies, motivation for participation, the proposed legacy impact and any added value they can bring to the competition.

The FIH has also been undertaking extensive discussions with broadcasters regarding exposure and media coverage of hockey within each of the nations as well as working collaboratively with the selected National Associations on all aspects of the application process including, but not limited to, match scheduling, player welfare and commercial terms.

The recommendations of the FIH EPIP will then be submitted to the FIH Executive Board for ratification when they meet in Lausanne on June 9-10, with the launch event being planned in the months following ratification.

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