HOCKEY: While the hope is that at least one of the Greek men's or women's hockey sides makes it to the 2004 Olympic Games, that looks very uncertain at the moment. No Greek team will play in Athens unless the side dramatically improves and manages to make it through a qualification process, the first time this has happened, writes Johnny Watterson
This week at European level in the Nations Cup qualifying tournament in Dublin, the Greek men's team conceded 24 goals in three matches while the women's side conceded 26. Both teams finished bottom of their pool. Neither the Irish men's or women's team played either of the sides but it's likely, given the run of results, that they could have scored at least eight goals in each match.
That disparity in standards has not gone unnoticed and a recent initiative by the FIH, following guidelines set down by the International Olympic Committee, sets a precedent. The hosts must qualify for their own Olympics.
As Greece have come nowhere near to qualifying for the European finals, they must now enter a specially designed process. The men's team will face the 12th qualified team in an Olympic qualification event in Madrid while the women will face the 10th ranked team from the qualifier in New Zealand. Both events are to be held in March, 2004.
None of the other host countries as far back as the Munich Games of 1972 have been as far behind the rest of the hockey-playing world as the Greek side are now. While Korea, particularly, were able to generate the resources and personnel in hockey (as they did in soccer) to build a world-class side for the Games, Greece are clearly struggling to do the same.
The scenario for the FIH was a simple one. A team as powerful as Germany may have had to go out and score maybe a dozen goals against the host nation in order to win their Olympic pool because the Australians or Dutch or Koreans, say, may have already done the same. That would have benefited nobody and perhaps for the good, Olympic hockey history has been changed.
Meanwhile, the Belfield tournament resumes this morning after yesterday's rest day, with the Irish men's and women's teams one win away from securing their places in next year's European Championships. The women play Italy today (9.0) for a place in the final, while the men meet Wales in the last four at the same venue (11.30).
The men's final is at 2.0 tomorrow and the women's at 4.30, not the reverse, as printed in the tournament programme. The top two in the men's event and the top three in the women's will qualify; the third-placed men's and fourth-placed women's teams will have to play off in Barcelona this September to go through to the finals.
