Hockeyroos and Kookaburras home Pro League matches postponed
Published Thu 08 Apr 2021
Australia’s scheduled international FIH Pro League matches in the lead up to the Tokyo Olympics have been postponed, Hockey Australia and the International Hockey Federation (FIH) have confirmed.
The Hockeyroos and Kookaburras were set to resume their FIH Pro League campaigns this month, however all matches involving Australia, China and New Zealand have been put on hold because of international travel restrictions due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
This means the upcoming Pro League double headers between Australia and New Zealand will not go ahead as originally scheduled on the ANZAC Day weekend (24/25 April) in Perth.
Australia’s national teams will also not travel to Europe for matches against Spain, the Netherlands and Germany which were planned for May.
Hockey Australia is optimistic about playing against New Zealand at some stage following New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s announcement that New Zealand will allow Australians to enter the country without mandatory quarantine from April 19.
Hockey Australia, Hockey New Zealand and the FIH are working together to bring FIH Pro League to life in 2021 for what are proving to be increasingly crucial hit outs in preparation for the Olympics.
The Kookaburras and Hockeyroos have not played an international match since 7 March last year.
“The Kookaburras and Hockeyroos have shown phenomenal resilience and adaptability in continuing their preparations for Tokyo without any international matches in over a year,” said Hockey Australia CEO Matt Favier.
“This lead up to an Olympics is unprecedented and it is too much of a risk sending teams to Europe this far out from the Games.
“We will continue to monitor the situation and the possibilities of playing any internationals knowing how critical they are for our national teams.
“We are hopeful they will have the opportunity to play on home soil again before they head to Tokyo in July.”
Further announcements will be made in due course.
The FIH Hockey Pro League is the annual global home and away league involving the world’s best men’s and women’s international hockey nations.
The revised match schedule of the 2020-2021 FIH Hockey Pro League is available here.
