The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has announced that the men’s FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers for the Paris Summer Olympics 2024, which is scheduled to take place from January 15 to 21, is shifted from Pakistan to Oman.
The hosting rights of Hockey Olympic Qualifiers were taken away from Pakistan considering the recent suspensions of several Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) officials by the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) in August. Moreover, PSB has also mandated fresh unbiased elections to be held within PHF.
Meanwhile, the other men’s qualifying tournaments of the Paris Olympics, which were scheduled to take place in Lahore will now be hosted by Valencia, Spain and Muscat, Oman.
A total of eight teams will feature in each of the Paris 2024 hockey qualifying tournaments, and the top three teams will qualify for the Paris 2024 Games, making a total of 12 teams per gender.
The seedings for the Olympic qualifiers will be finalized after the conclusion of all continental championships in 2023, moreover, the champions of these continental championships will directly qualify for Paris Olympics 2024.
The Netherlands and Australia have already booked their place for next year’s Summer Olympics after winning the EuroHockey Championship 2023 and the Oceania Cup respectively.
Meanwhile, one of the two women’s qualifying tournaments will be also hosted by Valencia and the other will take place in Changzhou, China. The women’s hockey qualifiers for the Paris Olympics will also follow the same format as the men’s qualifiers.
The hockey competition at the Paris Olympics 2024 will take place from July 27 to August 9, 2024, at Yves-du-Manoir stadium.