The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has been unable to agree the terms and conditions of the Contract for the Indoor Hockey Invitational Event. As a result there will be no Indoor Hockey at the World Games 2009, to be held in Kaohsiung City, Chinese Taipei, 16-26 July 2009.

The FIH would only have been allowed a delegation of 125 members (which includes Team players and officials, plus Tournament Officials). This is a smaller delegation than was allowed in Duisburg in 2005, when there was a Men’s 4 team and Women’s 4 team event. The Indoor Hockey competition in Kaohsiung was to have been a Men’s 6 team and Women’s 6 team event; so the allowed delegation size was clearly insufficient for the numbers of athletes and officials that would have been involved. Despite protracted correspondence it has proved impossible to reach a compromise which would have been acceptable to both the International World Games Association and FIH.

The FIH sincerely regret this outcome, and hope that Indoor Hockey will return to the World Games programme in 2013.