Lausanne: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has announced that Singapore will take the place of the United States at the hockey Olympic qualification tournament, to be held in New Delhi from February 18-26.
Singapore, currently ranked 41 in the world, were contacted to join the six-team men's qualification group after the United States unexpectedly pulled out of the event. The US took the decision decision to withdraw primarily due to player unavailability and player retirements and injuries.
"We were pleased that Singapore agreed on such short notice to take part in the Olympic qualification event," said FIH CEO Kelly Fairweather.
"It will undoubtedly give their men's national team valuable experience in a major international tournament," he added.
The tournament in Delhi will feature a six-team round-robin format. Following the round-robin stage, the teams ranked first and second will play for a berth in the London Games.
The remaining four teams will play placement games for FIH world rankings points.
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