Oman to host hockey Olympic Qualifier in place of Pakistan: FIH

Lausanne: Oman will now host one of the men's hockey Olympic Qualifiers after the world body (FIH) withdrew the tournament from Pakistan due to infighting between the national federation and the country's Sports Board.

The International Hockey Federation announced that tournament will be held in Muscat from January 15 to 21 next year.

The other three FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers will be played in China (women's - January 15-21 2024) and Spain (women's and men's - January 13-21).

"Following FIH's decision to withdraw the hosting of one of the Men's FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers from Pakistan due to the recent developments in the governance situation of the Pakistan Hockey Federation, this event will now be hosted by another Asian nation, namely Oman, which had already expressed an interest to bid at an early stage, during the bidding phase," the International Hockey Federation said in a statement.

Six women's and as many men's teams will qualify for Paris Olympics through these Olympic Qualifiers, for which the participating teams from Oceania and Europe are already known.

Australia and the Netherlands (women's and men's) have already secured their spot at the Paris Games by winning the 2023 Oceania Cup and EuroHockey Championships respectively, and joined hosts France.

The Asian Games - being played currently in Hangzhou, China - as well as the upcoming Pan American Games and African Hockey Road to Paris tournament will determine the remaining teams qualifying directly for next year's Olympics (3 women's and 3 men's teams) as well as the teams playing the FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers.

Hockey competition at the Paris Olympics will take place from July 27 to August 9 next year.