Lausanne (Switzerland), Jun 7 (IANS): The International Hockey Federation (FIH) on Tuesday announced that Spain and China will host two Olympic Qualifying tournaments early next year and set into motion plans to introduce new world rankings for juniors.

The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Executive Board (EB) of the FIH on Tuesday here under the chairmanship of FIH President Tayyab Ikram, at the Olympic House in Lausanne where the new FIH Empowerment and Engagement strategy was launched in attendance of IOC President Thomas Bach.

The EB meeting on Tuesday decided that Spain will host a joint Women's and Men's Olympic Qualifier while China will host one women's event; the host of the second men's event will be confirmed shortly.

Spain will also host the Women's Nations Cup (to be held in June 2024) while the host of the Men's Nations Cup will be confirmed soon.

The FIH also decided that the global hockey calendar will now be established for four years and published every year in October.

The EB decided that the global consultation process among all hockey stakeholders around the penalty corner, launched by FIH last year, will continue and a Junior World Ranking will be introduced soon.

The EB decided to amend the players' kit rule to enable athletes to wear skirts, skorts or shorts, at their convenience; the only condition is that they are of the same colour and design

The FIH Athletes Committee will have a new structure that will improve the communication flow between athletes around the world and give a greater opportunity to athletes for participating in administrative decision-making; the Committee will be made up of 10 members, with 2 members appointed by each Continental Federation, the FIH informed in a release on Tuesday.

Addressing the EB members, IOC President Thomas Bach said: "Cooperation between the International Hockey Federation and IOC is better than ever. From the IOC's point of view, there is a fresh wind of innovation and a forward-looking approach within the Federation which is in line with the IOC's Olympic Agenda and Olympic Agenda plus 5.

"We both want to make sport a leading force in the new world that is emerging. In this goal, we continue to have a strong and reliable partner in the FIH. The FIH Empowerment and Engagement strategy is impressive. It really focuses on the future development of hockey. I'm particularly pleased to see that it puts athletes in the centre," he added.

The meeting was attended by representatives from the Hockey Associations of India, the Netherlands, New Zealand, England, Spain, Malaysia, Australia, Belgium and Germany.