Lausanne, Switzerland: As a further milestone of its #EquallyAmazing strategy promoting gender equality, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) has decided to create a new Committee, namely the Women in Sports Committee.

The overall aim of this Committee will be to assist the FIH Executive Board (EB) to raise awareness about gender equality, inclusion and promote diversity in sports practice and governance. 

Four strategic priorities have been defined:

• Developing and implementing an FIH Women in Sport strategy;
• Cooperating with other international sport federations in regular exchange and knowledge;
• Continuing to oversee gender equality in the Executive Board and recommend changes;
• Establishing and maintaining contacts with people responsible for women’s hockey in each national association.

The Committee will be chaired by EB member Marijke Fleuren (Netherlands) who is also a member of the IOC Women in Sport Commission. Upon her appointment as Chair of this new Committee, the European Hockey Federation President said: “As the stimulator and now Chair of this Committee, I am motivated to work with other women and men to add extra value to our brand #EquallyAmazing. ‘Together’ will be our mantra to support equally women and men in achieving their goals as well on as off the field of play. 50/50 in all aspects.  It will mean a lot of dialogues, presentations, live support. But we will achieve it. Together!”

FIH President Dr. Narinder Dhruv Batra stated: “Gender equality is of paramount importance for the hockey family. This shall be true on the pitch, where the competitions are the same for men and women, as well as off the pitch, with an equal involvement of men and women in the committees and panels of the hockey governing bodies. The creation of the Women in Sports Committee is a further milestone of FIH’s firm commitment for an #EquallyAmazing sport.”

Visiting the FIH in March, IOC President Thomas Bach had said on this occasion: “Sport plays a fundamental role in society and I would like to commend FIH for its gender equality policy, which really is best practice. A role model for many International Federations.”

More information on the Women in Sports Committee is available here.

On the occasion of the International Women’s Day, we published stories from all continents. You can read them again by clicking here.

Furthermore, the new composition of the FIH Committees and Panels for the period 2019-2021 is available here.

#WomenInSport

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