The 2021–22 Men's FIH Pro League was the third edition of the Men's FIH Pro League, a field hockey championship for men's national teams. The tournament started on 16 October 2021 and finished on 26 June 2022.[1]
Format
The home and away principle was kept but this principle was split over two consecutive seasons and worked according to the following example:[2]
in previous season 2020–21, Team A hosted Team B twice within a couple of days.
in current season 2021–22, Team B hosted Team A twice within a couple of days.
If one of the two matches played between two teams was cancelled, the winner of the other match would have received double points.
Teams
Originally, nine teams were scheduled to compete in a round-robin tournament, being played from October 2021 to June 2022. On 17 September 2021, both New Zealand and Australia withdrew due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the travel restrictions coming with it.[3][4] Canada and South Africa joined on 8 December 2021.[5][6] On 17 January 2022, Canada withdrew due to the COVID-19 Omicron variant and the travel restrictions coming with it, six weeks after being named New Zealand substitute.[7] France was announced as Canada's substitute on 25 January 2022.[8][9]
^ a bThe matches, originally scheduled for 12 and 13 March 2022, were postponed due to positive COVID-19 tests by the German team.[11]
References
^"FIH Hockey Pro League 2021–2022: Match schedule confirmed". FIH. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
^"Executive Board approves 2020 and 2021 FIH Pro League match schedule principles". fih.ch. International Hockey Federation. 16 April 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
^"Hockey Australia announces absence from FIH tournaments". hockey.org.au. 17 September 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
^"Hockey New Zealand unable to participate in FIH events in late". hockeynz.co.nz. 17 September 2021. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
^"South Africa and Canada to join Men's FIH Hockey Pro League". fih.ch. 8 December 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
^Butler, Lynn. "South Africa temporary joins Men's Hockey Pro League". News24.
^"Field Hockey Canada Statement Regarding Pro League". 17 January 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
^"France to join Men's FIH Hockey Pro League". fih.ch. International Hockey Federation. 25 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
^"Frankrijk nieuwe tegenstander Oranje in Pro League". hockey.nl (in Dutch). 25 January 2022. Retrieved 25 January 2022.