KUALA LUMPUR: The men's FIH Junior World Cup (JWC) will be held behind closed doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The JWC will be played in Bhubaneswar, India, from Nov 24-Dec 5.
Hockey India, in a statement, said the decision was made to curb the spread of the deadly virus.
"It will be difficult to enforce Covid-19 protocols as fans will likely turn up in large numbers," said Hockey India on Wednesday.
Only accredited personnel and teams will be allowed into the Kalinga Stadium, the venue for the JWC.
Defending champions India, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Egypt, France, Germany, Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan, Poland, South Africa, Spain, the Netherlands and the United States will compete in the tournament.
Malaysia are in Pool A with Belgium, Chile and South Africa. The top two teams of each group will qualify for the quarter-finals.
After five days of pool matches, the classification games will be held from Nov 30 with the quarter-finals on Dec 1, semi-finals on Dec 3 and the final on Dec 5.
"All teams have been exempted from quarantine and will only be required to monitor themselves for Covid-19 symptoms during their stay. They will have to follow necessary Covid-19 protocols," Hockey India added.