The delegations heard talks from experts at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the FIH about what lies ahead in the next six months for the bidding process with the final decision on the host to be made and announced at the sport's world governing body Executive Board meeting due on November 8 this year.

Topics covered included competitions, marketing, broadcast and sports presentation, with the aim of the workshop being to give all interested countries a chance to gather as much information as possible involving all areas of event hosting to help them put together the strongest possible bids.

"This is the first time that the FIH has moved ahead with a formal bid process for our biggest property," said FIH chief executive Kelly Fairweather.

"This workshop underlines the aim that this process should be a two-way dialogue and partnership between the FIH and the bid nations and should be completely transparent for all the parties."

The delegations are now in the process of completing initial bid questionnaires and formal bids for the men's and/or women's events must be submitted by the August 31 deadline.

The FIH said it plans to conduct a site visit to each of the bidding nations in September and October, with the event evaluation panel reviewing the bids before making its recommendation to the executive board in November ahead of the meeting.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
April 2013: "We're going to do everything to make sure we host 2018 World Cup," says Munday
March 2013: England shortlisted to host 2018 women's hockey World Cup