The
International Field Hockey Federation (
Fédération Internationale de Hockey sur Gazon, or
FIH) is the global governing body of
field hockey. Its headquarters are located in
Lausanne,
Switzerland.
The FIH was founded on January 7, 1924 in
Paris by
Paul Léautey, who became the first president, in response to field hockey's omission from the programme of the 1924
Summer Olympics. The seven founding members were Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Hungary, Spain and Switzerland. The FIH soon grew to have many members and achieve international recognition. In 1982, the FIH merged with the IFWHA (International Federation of Women's Hockey Associations), which had been founded in 1927 by Australia, Denmark, England, Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, the United States and Wales.
The organisation is based in
Lausanne since 2005, having moved from
Brussels. The current president is
Leandro Negre from
Spain, who was elected on November 29, 2008 in
Los Angeles, California.
Member associations
The FIH consists of five continental associations and 127 member associations, in cooperation to promote and develop the sport. Geographically, there are 17 from
Africa, 30 from
Asia, 45 from
Europe, 9 from
Oceania and 26 from the
Americas.
Competitions
The FIH organises the five major international field hockey events, including the Indoor World Cup which was introduced in 2003:
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