XtraTime Web Desk: The Federation of International Hockey (FIH) has decided to give more importance to the Continental Championships for the qualification of 2023 Hockey World Cup to be held in India. This will result in Asia and Europe getting more direct berths, with Oceania too getting an extra spot.
During earlier editions of Hockey World Cup qualifiers, only the five Continental Championship winners got a direct entry besides the hosts. The remaining teams had to go through the qualifying tournaments. In all 11 of the total 16 teams, including hosts, will qualify through Continental Championships.
For the 2023 event Asia will get three slots, including one for hosts; Europe will have four slots, Oceania two while Africa and PanAm have one each, the FIH informed in a press release on Tuesday.
For the 2022 women’s world cup to be hosted by the Netherlands and Spain, Europe got four quota places including the co-hosts; while Asia, Oceania and Pan America got two slots each while Africa has one.
The remaining five slots in each section will be filled through a series of qualification events in March 2022.