The social system of the entire world changed post the covid-19 pandemic. Matches being held with hundreds of restrictions and without spectators is nothing out of the ordinary these days. Similarly, the FIH Odisha Men's Hockey Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021 will occur under closed doors and extreme supervision.
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The marquee tournament will begin on 24 November. Hockey is a popular sport in India and especially in the hosting region. The organizers took the decision of scheduling the tournament without spectators as controlling audiences is not an easy task. Managing the spectators to follow all the necessary covid-19 restrictions and protocols is laborious and quite burdensome. The organizers cannot compromise the safety of the athletes, team members, and spectators in any way. Therefore they concluded with the decision of empty stadiums.
The most important responsibility of the organizers is to organize the tournament in a surrounding where health and safety are the most important. It is true that the audiences cannot enjoy the tournament while sitting in the stadium but they can surely cheer and support their favorite teams and players across different platforms.
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The FIH Odisha Men's Hockey Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021 will have 16 teams as competitors. The teams are India, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Egypt, France, Germany, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Poland, South Africa, Spain, the Netherlands, and the United States.
The classification matches will start from 30th November after 5 days of pool stage matches. The Quarter Finals will occur on 1st December, Semi-Finals on 3rd, and the final clash on 5th December.