Lausanne (Switzerland), Oct 22 (IANS): The International Hockey Federation's (FIH) Executive Board on Thursday approved its reviewed Gender Equality Policy. The policy, among other things, aims to bring a 50-50 male and female representation in the Executive Board of international governing body.

"Meeting today via online conference under the chairmanship of FIH President Dr Narinder Dhruv Batra, the Executive Board (EB) of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) ratified the reviewed FIH Gender Equality Policy," said the FIH in a statement.

The review had been conducted by the FIH Women in Sports Committee, formed in May 2019 and chaired by FIH EB Member and European Hockey Federation president Marijke Fleuren.

The FIH said that the reviewed policy "stresses the need to implement gender balance across all hockey institutions (FIH, Continental Federations and National Associations)."

"FIH will be holding a number of webinars to promote gender equality, with the first one planned in November," it said.

The EB also approved the applications of Gambia, Saudi Arabia and Timor-Leste as provisional FIH Members. "The applications of these three countries to become full FIH Members will be submitted to the next FIH Congress in May 2021," said the federation.

On the pitch, the FIH Hockey Pro League will resume next week, with 14 matches involving the national teams of the Netherlands, Great Britain, Belgium and Germany scheduled over the next three weeks.

All continental federations reported on their activities which, despite the challenges caused by the global Covid-19 pandemic, are going on with full commitment and dedication.