Lausanne (Switzerland), Jul 16 (IANS): From the 2023/24 seasons, the FIH Pro League matches will be conducted in five time windows (or "blocks"), the Executive Board of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) has decided.

The FIH has changed the format of the Pro League so as not to disrupt the schedule of the domestic club competitions, tournaments, and leagues.

"This change has been confirmed for the subsequent three editions at least. Amongst others, this will help significantly for the planning of club competitions," the FIH informed in a press release on Saturday.

The Pro League, for men and women, is the flagship professional league organised by FIH involving nine teams in both sections which is also a qualifying competition for World Cup and Olympics. The event was started in 2019 on a home-and-away basis from January to June. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Pro League was held from October to June in the 2021-22 season as will be the 2022-23 edition.

Meanwhile, the FIH Executive Board has also confirmed South Africa as the host of the next FIh Hockey Indoor World Cup 2023, which was postponed due to Covid-related reasons.

The event will be staged in Pretoria from February 5-11, 2023.

"South Africa was confirmed as host of the next FIH Hockey Indoor World Cup, which was postponed due to Covid-related reasons. The event will be staged in Pretoria, from 5 to 11 February 2023," the FIH release said.

In a meeting held on Friday in Terrassa, Spain, on the occasion of the ongoing FIH Hockey Women's World Cup Spain and Netherlands 2022, the FIh Executive Board (EB) of the FIH expressed thanks and congratulations to both Local Organising Committees, participating teams, officials and volunteers for putting together such a successful event.

The next meeting of the Executive Board will take place on November 3, ahead of the FIH Congress which will be held virtually on November 4 and 5, 2022.