Men’s Hockey Junior World Cup To be Held Sans Spectators in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: The FIH Odisha Men’s Hockey Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021 will be held sans spectators, informed Hockey India on Friday.

Hockey India and FIH have jointly decided to hold the marquee quadrennial tournament under closed doors. Scheduled to begin on November 24, the event will be a telecast-only affair.

The decision has been taken in view COVID-19 pandemic, following the protocol and social distancing.

With the sheer popularity of the sport in this region and expected crowds in the stadium, the organisers believe it would not be possible to control that number of people and yet follow all the necessary covid guidelines and protocols.

While the stadium will only be open to accredited personnel and the participants of the tournament, the fans can tune in and cheer for their favourite teams and players, across platforms around the world for all games.

The tournament will see 16 teams which includes the defending champions and hosts India, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Egypt, France, Germany, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Poland, South Africa, Spain, The Netherlands and the United States. 

After five days of pool stage matches, the classification matches will be held from November 30 with the Quarter Finals to be played on December 1, Semi Finals on December 3 and the clash for the  title will be on December 5.