With 21 of the 24 teams already qualified for the Olympic rugby sevens competition, the remaining two women's and one men’s spots are scheduled to be decided from June 19 to 20 next year at Stade Louis II.

The women’s competition will feature Argentina, Colombia, France, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Samoa and Tunisia.

The men’s tournament will involve Brazil, Chile, China, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Jamaica, Mexico, Samoa, Tonga, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

World Rugby confirmed it was also investing $4 million (£2.94 million/€3.26 million) into Olympic qualified unions’ sevens programmes and towards the costs of hosting inter-regional high-performance preparation events.

The first of those is expected to take place from February 20 and 21 and 27 and 28 in Spanish capital Madrid.

The high-performance event will feature up to 12 men’s and 12 women’s teams participating across two successive weekends.

World Rugby said the competition was the first of several being scheduled during the first half of 2021 to assist in the development and preparation of sevens teams ahead of the Olympics.

Each union that has qualified a team for Tokyo 2020 is set to receive $100,000 (£73,551/€81,685) in World Rugby funding.

This money will be directed towards rugby sevens squad training camps, competition support, technical and sports science and medical programmes, according to World Rugby.

"We continue to work closely together with all host organisations, unions and regions in a spirit of collaboration and teamwork to ensure we provide players, coaches and teams with the very best high-performance preparation opportunities possible on the road to Tokyo next year," said Sir Bill Beaumont, chairman of World Rugby.

"This includes $4 million of financial support for rugby sevens’ programmes within Olympic qualified unions and the provision of high-performance training and competition opportunities during the first half of 2021, beginning in Madrid in February.

"While paying close attention to the ongoing, dynamic and uniquely challenging circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic this year, we are continuing to work hard on the contingency planning for the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2021 and would like to thank our commercial, broadcast and host organisation partners for their unwavering support during this unprecedented scenario.

"We look forward to returning to a full HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2022 to drive the sport forwards and build on the increased interest and awareness that will be created by the Olympic rugby sevens in 2021."

Due to the restrictions currently in place to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, World Rugby confirmed it has moved the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2021 events in Singapore and Hong Kong from initially proposed dates in April to October 29 to 30 and November 5 to 7.

Two women’s events of the series are scheduled to be held at the national rugby centre in Marcoussis in France from May 15 to 16 and 22 to 23.

A further update on contingency scheduling for the series is expected to be provided early in the new year, with a return to a full competition schedule anticipated for the 2022 edition.

It has also been decided that the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Challenger Series, launched in February 2020 will take place in late 2021.

Japan were awarded the inaugural men’s Challenger Series title as they topped the rankings after the two completed events, claiming gold and bronze in Chile and Uruguay.