The new FIH office in Lausanne, Switzerland, was officially opened on Friday night by IOC Life President Juan Antonio Samaranch.

The office has been operational since the beginning of the year but the official opening was timed to coincide with the first FIH Executive Board Meeting of the year.

The FIH was previously located in Brussels, Belgium, but moved to the Olympic Capital for many reasons, including the opportunity to develop stronger ties with the International Olympic Committee and ensure the sport’s longevity at the highest level.

The main benefit of the move to the Olympic capital and the shores of Lake Geneva was FIH’s priority to develop hockey’s profile on the IOC program. With increased challenges and intense lobbying for places on the summer Olympic program arising from a variety of sports including golf, rugby and rollersports, hockey cannot to rest on its current good reputation to rely on its future involvement.

Apart from the obvious advantage of the proximity to the IOC, the secondary benefits include moving to a working environment enriched with other international sporting federations and the ability to share the knowledge with these other organisations to enhance the growth and administration of hockey.