India will host the 2005 edition of the prestigious Champions Trophy hockey tournament.

An announcement to this effect was made by International Hockey Federation (FIH) president Els Van Breda Vriesman at its meeting in Perth, Australia, on Tuesday.

In a statement from Chennai, Indian Hockey Federation secretary-general K Jothikumaran, who attended the meeting, said India had made a bid to host the event in Chennai.

Chennai will be staging the event for the second time. The city had hosted the tournament in 1996, after the SAF Games in 1995.

As a prelude to the Champions Trophy, an international tournament, for the Dr J Jayalalithaa Gold Cup, will be staged in the city in 2004.

The statement said India won the bid after the IHF impressed upon the FIH that Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa would provide all the necessary infrastructure and facilities at the Sports Development of Authority of Tamil Nadu-Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey stadium, including floodlighting.