AHF: IOC approves qualification system for LA28 Olympic hockey tournaments

A major milestone in the build-up to the next Olympic hockey tournaments scheduled to take place in Los Angeles, USA in 2028, has just occurred with the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s approval of the qualification system for both events, women’s and men’s.

Like the last editions since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 12 teams per gender will participate in the quadrennial mega-event, including the host country, the USA.

The remaining 11 participating teams per gender will emerge from the following events:

• FIH Hockey Pro League: The highest ranked country in the 2025-26 and 2026-27 FIH Hockey Pro League seasons qualifies; If the same team that wins the 2025-2026 season also wins the 2026-2027 season, the runner-up from the 2026-27 season will qualify
• Continental Championships*: The highest ranked team in each of the five continental championships that has not yet qualified as a host or through the FIH Hockey Pro League qualifies; Should the nations that have qualified through the FIH Hockey Pro League be the highest ranked in their continental championships, the next highest ranked nation in such continental championship will qualify**
• FIH Olympic Qualifying Tournaments: Four tournaments (two per gender) consisting of eight teams each will be held in early 2028; the top two teams from each tournament qualify, completing the lineup of participating teams

Carson Fields, located just outside of downtown Los Angeles, adjacent to the world-famous venue that serves as the home of the LA Galaxy soccer team, will be transformed into a state-of-the-art hockey venueequipped to host exciting matches, vibrant fan activations and moments that will shape the next chapter of Olympic hockey history.

Hockey has been an Olympic sport since 1908. The Netherlands won both gold medals at the Olympic Games Olympic Games Paris 2024.

*The continental championships include:

• African Hockey Road to LA28 (planned in 2027)

• 20th Pan American Games (scheduled for 2027)

• 20th Asian Games (scheduled for 2026)

• EuroHockey Championship (scheduled for 2027)

• Oceania Cup (scheduled for 2027)

**Should the US win the 20th Pan American Games in 2027, the second-placed country will subsequently fail to qualify; instead, the quota place is allocated through the FIH Olympic qualifying tournaments

Source: FIH.hockey