The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and World Aquatics have decided on the Qualification System for the water polo tournament at the 2028 Olympic Games.
The qualification period starts with the 2027 World Cup and ends with the 2028 Olympic Qualification Tournament. For the first time, 12 female teams will take part, meaning that water polo has achieved gender parity.
Qualification System (both for men and women)
Host (1 team): The teams of the USA qualified automatically
2027 World Cup (1): The winner of the 2027 World Cup
2027 World Championships (2): two teams will qualify – the finalists (if the 2027 World Cup winner plays in the final, the bronze-medalist will also earn an Olympic berth).
Continental competitions (5): one team will qualify from each of the five Continental Championships in the season 2027/28.
Olympic Qualifications (3): The top three teams from the 2028 World Aquatics Olympic Qualification tournament will book the last three spots.
Water polo tournament will take place at the Long Beach Aquatics Center, with the men’s competition running from 12 to 22 July and the women’s from 13 to 23 July. Fpr the first time, the women’s final will be played after the gold-medal match at the men’s tournament
The competition format will be changed compared to the previous editions of the OG.
Teams will now be divided into three groups of four, rather than two groups of six for men and five for women. The top two teams from each group, along with the two best third-placed teams, will qualify for the quarterfinals. World Aquatics has not yet announced the criteria that will be used to determine the best third-placed teams.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: total-waterpolo.com
