We are writing to provide an update on the 21st Underwater Hockey World Championships which are currently scheduled to be held from 20 July 2021 to 1 August 2021.
The tournament was originally scheduled for 2020, however due to the COVID-19 global pandemic it was postponed to 2021. The tournament organisers and CMAS have been reviewing the ever-changing COVID-19 situation and have been discussing the possible impact to the 21st UWH World Championships.
On the 28th October, the tournament organising committee, Australian Underwater Federation (AUF) President and CMAS President, General Secretary and the UWH Commission President held a meeting to discuss the status of the tournament. The purpose of the meeting was to make a strategic decision that will be presented at the National Representatives of Underwater Hockey Federations meeting that will be held on 21 November 2020.
The 21st UWH Championships organising committee were waiting for the National Representatives of UWH Federations meeting to provide an update, as the strategic decision that is being presented is not ratified until this meeting. However, due to a premature sharing of this information before the decision has been made official, we understand that this proposal has been circulating. As such, we wanted to provide an update, making special note that until the National Representatives of UWH Federations meeting on 21 November, the proposal is not confirmed.
The tournament organising committee, AUF President and CMAS committee decided to:
- Postpone the 21st UWH World Championships to 2023.
- The AUF will refund all the entry fees paid by national teams in the 2019 and 2020 period.
- The AUF will charge a $100.00 AUD handling fee on all team refunds, to go somewhat to recouping the substantial losses that have been forced on the organising committee by the global pandemic,
- CMAS will refund the license fee to the AUF in the same amount of fees paid to host a Category A competition.
- The proposal for Zone Championships qualification system for world championships for 2023 will be voted in the National Representative of UWH Federations meeting.
As mentioned above, this is not yet confirmed. Once the National Representatives of UWH Federations meeting has been held and a decision confirmed, an email will be sent to all registered points of contact with further information.
We appreciate your patience while we await the update from CMAS following the formal process.
Russell Cox -21st UWH World Championships Convener
Graham Henderson – AUF Federal President