ISLAMABAD: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has announced that France would join the third edition of the Men’s FIH Hockey Pro League.

After Canada eventually pulled out due to Covid-19 related issues, the international governing body had contacted the next best teams, according to the FIH World Rankings, to invite one of them to replace Canada, said an FIH press release.

France have accepted the invitation and, as the highest-ranked team having done so, would join the global home-and-away league Hockey at its Best — for this season.

As communicated earlier, France’s participation in the FIH Hockey Pro League was planned for this third edition only. Indeed, Australia and New Zealand, who were not playing the current season due to Covid-related international travel constraints, are expected to come back for the fourth edition (2022-2023).

France would play their first match on Feb 8 against India in Potchefstroom, South Africa.

France have qualified for the next FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup, which would be held during January 2023 in the Indian cities of Bhubaneswar and Rourkela.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2022