Hockey’s New Roadmap: What the FIH’s ‘Made For Hockey 2032+’ Actually Means
Hockey’s governing body spent its 50th Congress in Doha talking about the next seven years, not the last seven days. The result is a new strategic framework called Made For Hockey 2032+, and it’s worth knowing what it actually is.
The Congress, held in Doha on Saturday 24 October, endorsed the framework and backed the IOC’s Fit for the Future initiative. It’s built around five pillars — athletes, community, movement, impact and growth — and the stated aims are wider participation, stronger national associations and new audiences. IOC President Kirsty Coventry addressed the delegates by video.
Frameworks don’t win matches, so the details matter more than the name. Six new members were elected to the FIH Executive Board: Chuenchanok Nin Siriwat of Thailand, Hazel Kennedy of Zambia, Brenda Lucía Cáceres Mendia of Guatemala, Walter Kapounek of Austria, Erik Klein Nagelvoort of the Netherlands and Deon James Morgan of South Africa. The Lebanese Hockey Federation was admitted, taking FIH membership to 147. And Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani, president of the Qatar Olympic Committee and the Olympic Council of Asia, received the FIH President’s Award.
There was also a governance proposal on the table. Independent legal expert Marc Cavaliero put forward a review of the FIH’s regulatory and judicial framework, aimed at more transparency, efficiency and independence. It was a proposal for consideration, not new regulations adopted on the spot.
The numbers behind the optimism are real. The 2026 World Cup in Belgium and the Netherlands drew a cumulative television audience of 403.3 million, and official content passed 223 million views on social media. FIH President Tayyab Ikram told delegates those figures were “not a destination, but a starting point”.
The bit with the sharpest teeth is the calendar. The FIH Hockey Pro League starts on 8 December in Córdoba, Argentina, and this time its champions will win Olympic places. That’s the kind of incentive that changes how seriously teams take the league.
For our money, the roadmap’s success won’t be judged by the five pillars. It’ll be judged by whether more countries can actually play, and whether the Pro League’s Olympic carrot makes the league matter the way it should.
