International Hockey Can Resume Only After COVID-19 Vaccine Is Developed: FIH

International hockey will be played only after a vaccine is developed to cure the deadly coronavirus, the FIH announced, as the world governing body revealed a five-stage process, devised for the resumption of the game at different levels. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) believes global competition among its member countries will be possible only during the last stage of the process, the timeline of which cannot be set. "These are very early days when it comes to a return to action but, within its, guidance FIH has produced a five-stage process showing the route back to something resembling normality. This starts, as has been seen in the Netherlands and Belgium, with a return to carefully managed training, still with social distancing measures in place," the FIH said in a statement.
"The next stage will be a resumption of regional competition, followed by local travel between neighbouring nations. The trans-Continental competition will follow and, finally, once a vaccine is in place, it is hoped there will be a return to normal competition."
"There is no time scale for these stages to be reached and it will vary from country to country."
FIH said when competition does resume, organisers will need to be hugely conscious of safety measures that will need to be implemented, in order to keep the hockey workforce and the fans safe.