The men's field hockey tournament at the 2004 Summer Olympics was the 20th edition of the field hockey event for men at the Summer Olympic Games. It was held over a thirteen-day period beginning on 15 August, and culminating with the medal finals on 27 August. All games were played at the hockey centre within the Hellinikon Olympic Complex in Athens, Greece.
Australia won the gold medal for the first time after defeating defending champions the Netherlands 2–1 in the final. Germany won the bronze medal by defeating Spain 4–3. Pakistan's Sohail Abbas was the top scorer of the tournament, netting 11 goals.
Qualification Each of the continental champions from five federations received an automatic berth. Alongside the seven teams qualifying through the 2004 Men's Field Hockey Olympic Qualification Tournament, twelve teams competed in this tournament.
DatesEventLocationQualifier(s)30 September – 12 October 20022002 Asian Games Busan, South Korea2–13 August 20032003 Pan American Games Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic1–13 September 20032003 EuroHockey Nations Championship Barcelona, Spain17–21 September 20032003 Men's Oceania Cup Christchurch and Wellington, New Zealand10–16 October 20032003 All-Africa Games Abuja, Nigeria2–13 March 2004Olympic Qualification Tournament Madrid, Spain
Although the host nation would have qualified automatically as well, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) refused to give them an automatic berth due to the standard of hockey in Greece. Greece appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), however it was turned down. Greece's first option to gain a place at the Olympics was by qualifying for the EuroHockey Nations Championship held in 2003. As they did not qualify for this tournament their last option was to beat Canada, the last ranked team of the Olympic Qualification Tournament in a best of three play-off competition. Canada would have kept its place in the Qualifier regardless of whether it won or lost against Greece. There would, however, have been six places at stake at the tournament if Greece had qualified, rather than the seven eventually available. Greece lost the first two matches against Canada 1–7 and 1–3, losing their chance to qualify to the Olympics.
Umpires
Rosters
Preliminary round All times are Eastern European Time (UTC+2)
Pool A
Pool B
Classification round Ninth to twelfth place classification
9–12th place semi-finals
Eleventh place game
Ninth place game
Fifth to eighth place classification
Crossover
Seventh place match
Fifth place match
Medal round
Semi-finals
Bronze medal match
Gold medal match
Final ranking
Goalscorers
References
External links Official FIH website