England Submits Bid for 2018 FIH Women’s World Cup

England Hockey have revealed they have formally submitted a bid to the International Hockey Federation (FIH) to host the 2018 Women’s World Cup in London.

The Women’s World Cup bid forms part of a portfolio of bids for major events in the forthcoming years which England Hockey is submitting to the FIH, and which also includes the Men’s Champions Event and the Men’s and Women’s World League Semi-Finals.  The purpose built Lee Valley Hockey Centre, the 2012 Olympic Games legacy facility, will play host to the events.

England Hockey’s Chief Executive Sally Munday (pictured) commented on the bid: “We have a clear goal to increase the visibility of hockey in England, which in turn will help drive participation and ultimately elite performance, and events such as the World Cup will be central to achieving these objectives.

“Recent international hockey events have shown the large and passionate following in England for our National teams, boosted by our women’s team winning a silver medal at last month’s EuroHockey Championships. In addition to London hosting the 2015 EuroHockey Championships, the World Cup 2018 is one of a series of bids we’ve submitted to host international events in the coming years, aiming to continue the momentum we’ve generated and keep hockey in the forefront of the public’s minds and mainstream media.”

The bid has the full backing of Sports Minister Hugh Robertson, who also is a former hockey player and a follower of the sport: “We have total support for England Hockey’s major events strategy, and in particular the bid for the 2018 Women’s World Cup. We can use this event to continue to deliver a tangible legacy following the London 2012 Olympics and it would be fantastic to have more major events of this importance in our country.”

The Women’s World Cup will form part of UK Sport’s Gold Event Series, which is investing £27million of National Lottery funding to support the bidding and staging costs of major events, on home soil, as well as providing specialist support to organisers. 

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, added: “Since the spectacular success of last summer’s 2012 Games, London has continued to make its mark as a world class international sporting city. I wholeheartedly support England Hockey’s bid to host the Women’s World Cup in 2018 which, as part of wider portfolio of fixtures, will ensure we make the most of our fantastic Olympic and Paralympic venues and continue to deliver a lasting legacy for many years to come.”

The decision on which country will host the Women’s World Cup in 2018 will be announced by the FIH in Lausanne, Switzerland on 7 November.