This story was updated on 18 December 2015 to account for New Zealand’s confirmation

Spain’s women and New Zealand’s men have been confirmed as the final teams in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games hockey tournament. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) confirmed that both teams had been invited to compete in Rio after the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee’s (SASCOC) decision to reject invitations for their men’s and women’s teams.

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The Royal Spanish Hockey Federation (RFEH) quickly confirmed that they would accept the invitation on Thursday (17 December) and New Zealand confirmed their presence on Friday (18 December).

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The Black Sticks celebrate a goal against Canada at the 2014 Commonwealth Games (Photo: Getty Images/Mark Kolbe)

The South African men’s and women’s teams won the African Championships in November, earning the right to compete at Rio 2016. However, SASCOC had already said it would not take up the slots, as under its qualification criteria the continental route would not be considered.

The FIH confirmed that it appealed on behalf of the South African Hockey Association to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), but that the IOC Executive Board stated that, under the terms of the Olympic Charter, all parties must respect the authority of SASCOC.

Under the FIH’s Olympic qualification rules, the quota places have been reallocated to the next highest-placed teams from the Hockey World League Semi-Finals, namely Spain’s women and New Zealand’s men.

Spain defend against a Dutch penalty corner during this year’s EuroHockey tournament in London (Photo: RFEH)

The Spanish women join Australia, the Republic of Korea, the USA, Great Britain, China, Germany, Argentina, the Netherlands, New Zealand, India and Japan in the Olympic line-up for next year.

New Zealand join Brazil, Australia, India, Argentina, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Great Britain, Canada, Spain and Ireland.

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Follow the race to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games

Rio2016.com is not an absolute authority on qualification for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is an ongoing process. Final places will only be confirmed in July 2016 (for the Olympic Games) and August 2016 (for the Paralympic Games). The qualification systems are defined by each sport’s respective International Federation and the International Olympic Committee or International Paralympic Committee, and are subject to change. When an athlete or team wins a quota place for their nation, the final decision on whether this ‘slot’ is used and which athletes are sent is taken by the respective National Olympic Committee or National Paralympic Committee (NOC or NPC). Even when athletes win a ‘nominal’ place for themselves, NOCs/NPCs may have to decide who to send if the number of qualified athletes from one country exceeds the quota.