FIH president to arrive in Oman on January 6

Muscat: The president of the International Hockey Federation (FIH), Tayyab Ikram, will be making his first visit to the Sultanate of Oman since being elected as the world hockey supremo in November last year.

Ikram’s visit coincides with the inaugural match of the Junior AHF Cup Hockey Championship that will be played at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex from January 6-12.

In his exclusive remarks to Times of Oman from Pakistan, Ikram said: “I am looking forward to having fruitful discussions with the top bosses in Oman to ensure that the inaugural edition of the Hockey 5s World Cup is organised in the best possible manner.”

Ikram was elected as the FIH president after beating Marc Coudron of Belgium 79-47 in the voting conducted during the FIH Congress in November.

Prior to becoming the world chief, Ikram, was the chief executive of Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) and had made several visits to the Sultanate of Oman.

A senior OHA official said that the visit will go a long way in strengthening the Sultanate of Oman’s relationship with the world body.

Oman is poised to host the inaugural edition of the FIH Hockey5s World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men’s and women’s hockey 5s teams in January 2024. Ikram’s visit gains significance as the FIH chief is expected to hold discussions with top officials of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth (MCSY) and the Oman Hockey Association office-bearers.

In the last edition of Junior AHF Cup in December 2021, Oman lost to China 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out in the final. Eight teams are vying for the honours in two groups. Pool A includes hosts Oman, Thailand, Chinese Taipei and Indonesia while Pool B comprises top-ranked Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Hong Kong and Uzbekistan.

In the Junior AHF Cup, Oman will meet Chinese Taipei on January 6 and then take on Thailand on January 8.

The hosts round up their Pool A matches with a match against Indonesia on January 9.

The semifinals and classification matches for fifth to eighth places will take place on January 11. The tournament will conclude with the final and play-off matches for third place and other classification matches on January 12.