Thursday 28 / November / 2024
Muscat: Oman will host the prestigious FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifier in Muscat from January 15-21, 2024.
Oman Hockey Association (OHA) president Dr Marwan Al Juma confirmed the hosting and told Times of Oman that "it is a prestigious tournament and we are happy to host after FIH decided to move it away from Pakistan."
Dr Al Juma said "We had expressed our interest to FIH at the bidding stage and the event would be now held just ahead of the FIH Hockey5s World Cup, which will begin on January 24, 2024.
"Oman will hog the limelight of hockey world in January and I thank the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth for the full support."
He added: "I would like to express my thanks to His Highness Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said, the Minsiter of Culture, Sports and Youth and Tayyab Ikram, FIH president, for their backing."
FIH’s decision to withdraw the hosting of one of the Men’s FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers from Pakistan has been due to the recent developments in the governance situation of the Pakistan Hockey Federation.
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).
Six women’s and six men’s teams will qualify for Paris 2024 through these FIH Hockey 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 2024 hockey Olympic tournaments by winning the 2023 Oceania Cup and EuroHockey Championships respectively, therefore joining 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.
The Paris 2024 hockey Olympic tournaments will take place from July 27 to August 9 next year.
Dr. Marwan Al Juma, OHA President
