South Korea and South Africa, who missed out on competing at last year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro after their National Olympic Committee refused to send them to the event, had initially applied for both the men's and women's league but decided not to continue their pursuit  of securing the spot at the tournament.

Italy will also not participate in the competition, which is replacing the Champions Trophy and the Hockey World League and is due to launch in 2019.

The European nation had submitted a bid for the women's league.

Japan were initially successful with their application for the men's and women's event but have only reached the next phase of the extensive selection process in the latter.

Thirteen countries remain in the running for a berth in the women's league, with 12 nations still in with a chance of securing a place in the men's tournament.

The FIH have said each league will contain a maximum of nine teams.

Argentina, Australia, Belgium, England, Germany, India, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand and Spain submitted applications for both their men's and women's teams and have all progressed.

Malaysia and Pakistan applied for the men's event only, while China, Japan and the United States entered the process for the women's competition.

The FIH will reveal the competing nations and the branding for the tournament, including the name, at a launch event in London on June 21.

The National Associations were asked to submit an online questionnaire before the deadline regarding areas such as financial sustainability, commercial vision, legal compliance and proposed venues.

Other topics on the document included organisation and personnel, event delivery and presentation, team performance history, marketing strategies, motivation for participation, the proposed legacy impact and any "added value" they can bring to the competition.

The questionnaires will now be evaluated by the FIH Event Portfolio Implementation Panel, chaired by Australia's Ken Read, who unsuccessfully stood for the Presidency of the worldwide governing body in October of last year.

The Panel is due to finalise its recommendations following a meeting in Lausanne, scheduled to be held from May 27 to 28, before their proposals are put to the Executive Board, who are meeting from June 9 to 10.

"To have 15 National Associations still in the running at this stage of the assessment process is fantastic news for the home and away league, a game-changing competition that is central to our 10-year Hockey Revolution strategy," FIH chief executive Jason McCracken said.

"The depth of information that we required the National Associations to provide was extensive and the quality of submissions received was outstanding. 

"I congratulate and thank the National Associations for their work ahead of what will be a very thorough and competitive assessment process. 

"The FIH continues to work in close collaboration with the National Associations as the sport looks forward to taking advantage of the growing interest, excitement and engagement in this competition from fans, broadcasters and commercial partners."

The men's and women's sides involved will play home and away against the other teams each year, with matches held in Southern and Northern Hemisphere rounds to ensure the best possible weather conditions.

Following the completion of the league phase, the top four countries will compete in a standalone grand final to crown the overall winner.