The worldwide governing body has released its standards for hockey turfs, hockey fields and courts used in Hockey5s, the shorter format of the sport.

The FIH are encouraging manufacturers to to develop surfaces for use at the higher levels of hockey that need less water compared with the current pitches.

It is hoped that they will eventually be able to "produce surfaces that perform as a global category hockey turf without any water", according to the FIH.

Another alteration sees the expansion of the multi-sport categories of hockey turf approved by the FIH.

"Recognising that sharing facilities with other sports that wish to play on the types of surfaces hockey prefers is often a key way of securing investment in new facilities, the new Standard has categories that will enable sports such as tennis, netball and lacrosse to be played at a recreational and development level on hockey fields and courts," the governing body said in a statement.

The move follows the FIH launching the "Quality Programme for Hockey Turf", which forms part of the organisation's 10-year Hockey Revolution strategic plan.

The scheme aims to ensure that good quality hockey fields are available at all levels of the sport, focusing on ensuring sustainability, affordability and accessibility of pitches worldwide.

"We believe that the long-term success of our sport lies in the quality of hockey facilities around the world," Commonwealth Games bronze medallist David Luckes, the FIH's director of sport and development, said.

"These new specifications will help us progress the development of hockey facilities with the goal of ensuring the next generation of hockey players, the future of our sport, will be able to learn and develop their hockey skills in safe and reliable environments."