Recurring every four years, the 15th edition of the Men’s FIH (Fédération Internationale de Hockey) Hockey World Cup will take place in 2023. Let’s take a look at the Top 10 Interesting Facts about the upcoming event.
Top 10 Facts Men’s FIH Hockey World Cup 2023
1. The Hockey World Cup will be held in India for the fourth time in 2023. India has hosted the World Cup three times before: in 1982 (Mumbai), 2010 (New Delhi), and 2018 (Odisha).
Hockey India president Mohammad Mushtaque Ahmad also expressed his delight at the FIH’s announcement. “We are all very delighted to have won the bid to host the 2023 Men’s Hockey World Cup”.
When we had made the bid, we wanted to give our country another reason to celebrate 75 years of independence, adding to that the fact that our last win was registered in 1975. And what better way to celebrate than to witness a pinnacle global event of our national sport on our soil,” he said in a statement released by Hockey India.
2. Schedule – The Prestigious Event of FIH Hockey World Cup 2023 is scheduled from January 13 to 29, 2023.
3. Odisha will host the 2023 FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup at Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. This is the second time in a row Odisha would be hosting this major sporting event. The 14th edition of the FIH Hockey World Cup, as held from 28 November to 16 December 2018, at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.
4. Venues
- Rourkela – Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium with a Spectator Capacity of 16,000.
- Bhubaneswar – Kalinga Stadium with a Spectator Capacity of 20,000.
5. Qualification Process – The FIH also revealed the 2023 World Cup qualification process. The following is how the teams can make it to the big event:
- The hosts will automatically qualify (1 team).
- The champions of the Continental Championships will automatically qualify for the World Championships (5 teams).
- The remaining ten teams will compete in a home-and-away play-off; the 20 teams who will compete in these qualifications will be chosen by Continental quotas, which will be based on global rankings at the end of the 2020 Olympic Games and team finishes in continental tournaments.
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6. FIH (Fédération Internationale de Hockey) received 3 final bids to host the Men’s Hockey World Cup in 2022. India bagged the honor among Belgium and Malaysia who were the other two bidders. Germany and Spain were also in the bid race but withdrew afterward.
7. Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium in Rourkela would become India’s largest hockey stadium. The stadium will be built on 15 acres of land on the Biju Patnaik University of Technology campus and would have a Spectator Capacity of 20,000 people.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik made this announcement over a video message that said, “As we have announced earlier, Odisha will once again be the proud host of the prestigious men’s hockey World Cup in 2023.”
The stadium will be equipped with all modern conveniences and would provide a one-of-a-kind experience. As a mark of respect for Sundargarh’s (Rourkela comes under Sundargarh district) contribution to Indian hockey producing players Dilip Tirkey and Sunita Lakra, work on developing synthetic hockey turf in each of Sundargarh district’s 17 blocks has already begun.
8. FIH Hockey World Cup 2023 Logo – Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik unveiled the logo for this event on 14th April 2022 at Kalinga Hockey Stadium in Bhubaneshwar.
“It gives me great pleasure and honor to introduce the official logo of the FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup for the second time,” Naveen Patnaik said after releasing the official logo.
Tushar Kanti Behera, Odisha’s Sports Minister, was in attendance, as was Gyanendro Ningombam, President of Hockey India, and Padma Shri Dr. Dilip Tirkey, Chairman of the Odisha Hockey Promotion Council. At the ceremony, the Indian Men’s Hockey Team and the German Men’s Hockey Team, who are both based in Bhubaneswar for their FIH Hockey Pro League matches, posed for group photos.
9. The FIH appointed 18 umpires for this tournament – Rawi Anbananthan (MAS)
- Dan Barstow (ENG)
- Christian Blasch (GER)
- Federico García (URU)
- Gareth Greenfield (NZL)
- Marcin Grochal (POL)
- Ben Göntgen (GER)
- Eric Koh (MAS)
- Lim Hong Zhen (SGP)
- Martin Madden (SCO)
- Jakub Mejzlík (CZE)
- Germán Montes de Oca (ARG)
- Raghu Prasad (IND)
- Sean Rapaport (RSA)
- Steve Rodgers (AUS)
- Javed Shaikh (IND)
- David Tomlinson (NZL)
- Coen van Bunge (NED)
10. Belgium won the 2018 Men’s Hockey World Cup for the first time and is the standing champion. Pakistan is the only country to have won this title for a maximum of 4 times (1971, 1978, 1982, 1994)
Following are the countries that have had the privilege of lifting the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup.
- Pakistan (4-time champion) – 1971, 1978, 1982, 1994
- Netherlands (3-time champion) – 1973, 1990, 1998
- Australia (3-time champion) – 1986, 2010, 2014
- Germany (2-time champion) – 2002, 2006*
- India (1-time champion) – 1975
- Belgium (1-time champion) – 2018
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