South Africa Hockey Association to seek alternative route to Rio 2016 after SASCOC deny them Olympic spot

The South African Hockey Association has vowed to find alternative routes for their men’s and women’s teams to compete at Rio 2016 ©SAHA

The South African Hockey Association (SAHA) has vowed to find alternative routes for their men’s and women’s teams to compete at Rio 2016 after the South Africa Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) said they would not be able to participate due to not meeting their qualification criteria.

Both South African teams won their respective International Hockey Federation (FIH) African Championships in Johannesburg, which was enough for them to secure a spot at next year’s Games under the rules laid down by the world governing body and the International Olympic Committee.

SASCOC, however, had insisted that teams qualify through the highest possible route, the FIH Hockey World League (HWL).

South Africa, however, failed to achieve a place through that competition and have now been told their sides will not take part at Rio 2016.

The decision has sparked fury among the hockey community in the country, with the SAHA blasting SASCOC for “crippling” the sport in the African country.

SAHA have also revealed they will be seeking the advice of the FIH in the matter and, in a letter to SASCOC chief executive Tubby Reddy, threatened the possibility of legal action further down the line.

“In all discussions SA Hockey continuously presented the argument that the criteria proposed was unachievable due to a number of factors, and that the criteria in fact would be an automatic exclusion of the two national hockey teams should the criteria remain,” a SAHA statement said.

“We note the growing impatience and frustration amongst the hockey community around why the qualification criteria discussion took place so late and note that some of this timing was out of our hands.

“We further acknowledge that up until the conclusion of the African Championships there was no qualification at all to speak of, as SA had not as yet met any elements of the FIH/IOC qualification criteria.

“The decision taken by SASCOC is crippling and will have long lasting negative ramifications for the sport of hockey, the decision taken is by no measure in the interest of the sport.

“SA Hockey will now explore any other possible avenues that may be available to us to further advance the possibility of entry for the Rio Olympic Games.”

South Africa's women's and men's teams look likely to miss out on Rio 2016 ©Getty Images

SAHA chief executive Marissa Langeni also claimed SASCOC’s decision would have a negative impact on the rankings of the two teams, with their men set to drop from 15th to 19th and the women from 11th to 15th.

“No matter how good the next generation of players are, they will walk into a team with a ranking outside of the top 10," she said.

“These facts must be taken into consideration in the best interest of the sport.

“The SA women in Rio would simply have to win two matches to move higher in rankings to top 10.

“The SA men have a real chance of breaking into the top nine.”

Reddy had previously defended SASCOC's stance, saying it was "in line with their policy of producing world-class athletes who will compete at the highest level."

New Zealand’s men’s team and Spain’s women’s team will be the beneficiaries of SASCOC’s ruling.

The Kiwis, currently seventh in the world rankings, are poised to fill the men’s void as the losing finalists in last month’s Oceania Cup, which was won by Australia.

Spain, meanwhile, are next in line to qualify for the women's tournament thanks to their HWL performance.

If South Africa do not appear, it will be the first Olympics since Barcelona in 1992 that the country will not be represented in either the men's or women's event.