It comes after a formal FIH visit to Japan’s capital to meet representatives of the Organising Committee and Japan Hockey Association (JHA) in preparation for Tokyo 2020.

The FIH said it was "excited" to see the progress on venue construction prior to the "Ready Steady Tokyo" test event at Oi Hockey Stadium, due to be held from August 17 to 21.

The world governing body also expressed its pleasure with the updates provided by the various functional areas within the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee in respect of the progress on operational aspects.

It noted that this is a crucial time in the planning phase and encouraged all parties to continue working on the details and to take advantage of the test event to learn from and optimise operations for next year’s Olympics.

The FIH was represented by Tayyab Ikram, chair of international and Olympic relations and an Executive Board member.

He was joined on the visit by Asian Hockey Federation President Fumio Ogura, FIH Pro League and Olympic Games director Hilary Atkinson and Tokyo 2020 hockey manager Satoshi Kondo.  

All four met JHA President Hirofumi Nakasone, who is also a member of Japan’s House of Councillors, to discuss the progress at Oi Hockey Stadium and on the work of the teams at the Organising Committee and Tokyo Metropolitan Government in planning for the Olympics and its legacy.

The second session of the National Technical Officials (NTOs) training programme was also held in Gifu, where the participants were supported with practical training delivered by FIH Hockey Academy educators.

The FIH claims the NTOs are looking forward to continuing their training in the build-up to the test event.  

The positive talk from the FIH comes despite the fact Oi Hockey Stadium had the lowest completion rate of the 10 venues and facilities being built for Tokyo 2020 when an update was provided on February 13.

It was less than 50 per cent finished at the time.

Tokyo 2020 claimed construction at all venues due to be used was on schedule and would be finished in time for test events, which have since begun.

Building progress at all the facilities was listed as being "on track".

Oi Hockey Stadium will be constructed in Oi Central Seaside Park Sports Forest.

Plans are in place for it to be used after Tokyo 2020 as a multi-purpose sports facility with artificial turf.