ISLAMABAD: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) on Friday confirmed the match schedule of the third season of the FIH Hockey Pro League.

The global home-and-away league involving the best teams in the world would start with the reigning women’s world champions Netherlands welcoming their Belgian neighbours on Oct 6, 2021, an FIH press release said.

It would end on June 30, 2022, also with world champions involved - the men’s one, this time — with Belgium hosting Spain.

The schedule was planned to be spread over two years, from October 2021 to June 2022. Of course, it is fully in line with the recently approved 8-year global hockey calendar. This would, amongst others, enable a smoother planning for continental, national and club competitions.

Furthermore, considering that the second season of the FIH Hockey Pro League has been quite substantially disrupted by the global Covid-19 pandemic, FIH and the participating teams have agreed that the final rankings of the competition would be determined on the basis of percentage (points earned vs maximum number of possible points from matches played).

On a bright note, with the opening of the trans-Tasman bubble on April 19, allowing quarantine free travel between Australia and New Zealand, Hockey New Zealand and Hockey Australia are actively working through options of playing their postponed FIH Hockey Pro League matches in Perth, Australia in late June.

For example, a team who have played 10 matches by the end of the season would have a possible maximum of 30 points. If they have won 18 points, their percentage used for their final ranking would be 60 percent.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2021