Hockey to meet with Rio 2016 to try to resolve venue row

By James Crook

February 15 - The International Hockey Federation (FIH) are due to meet with the Rio 2016 Organising Committee next month to discuss issues surrounding the venue for the Olympic Games, which was moved from its originally-planned venues on the Olympic Park to the Deodoro Zone on the outskirts of the city.

The majority of sports, as well as the main media and broadcast centres, will be based at the Olympic Park in the Barra da Tijuca region; a 40-minute drive from Deodoro.

Plans to relocate the hockey venues, which were situated on the Olympic Park in the Rio 2016 Bid Book, were met with disapproval from the FIH, who believed having the venue so far away from where most of the action at the Games would be taking place would have a negative impact on attendances and exposure.

The hockey venue at London 2012, situated on the Olympic Park, saw impressive attendances during the Games

In their Bid Book, Rio earmarked two sites on the Olympic Park for hockey pitches- one with a 10,000-capacity and one with a 5,000-capacity, which would be located approximately four-and-a-half miles from the Olympic Village. 

The FIH have scheduled to meet with the Rio Organising Committee during the World League Tournament Round 2, which is due to take place in the city between February 27 and March 10, with hopes of resolving the issue.

Hockey narrowly avoided elimination from the core Olympic sports programme this week, which would have seen the sport dropped from the Olympics following Rio 2016, despite a good reception at London 2012.

Contact the writer of this story at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.