The FIH Women in Sports Committee, chaired by Marijke Fleuren, conducted a review of the organisation's gender equality policy.

Fleuren, an FIH Executive Board member and European Hockey Federation President, is also a member of the IOC Women in Sport Commission.

The updated policy was ratified by the Executive Board following a virtual meeting chaired by FIH President Narinder Batra.

The FIH said it has reiterated its commitment to reach a gender-equal representation off the field of play following approval of the policy.

It also stressed the need to implement gender balance across all hockey institutions, including the FIH, continental federations and national associations.

FIH will be holding a number of webinars to promote gender equality, with the first scheduled for November. 

The FIH gender equality policy was first implemented in 2017 and is reviewed every two years. 

In addition, the Executive Board approved the applications of Gambia, Saudi Arabia and Timor-Leste as provisional FIH members. 

Applications for the three countries to become full members will be submitted to the next FIH Congress, set to take place in May after it was postponed from this year due to the coronavirus crisis.

Updates were then provided by each continental federation, with a number of activities ongoing despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

On the pitch, the FIH Hockey Pro League is set to continue on Tuesday (October 27).

The Netherlands, Britain, Belgium and Germany are set to contest 14 matches over the next three weeks. 

Competition had resumed after a six-month hiatus with men's and women's matches between Germany and Belgium in September.