The Olympic Council of Ireland contribute €50,000 to Hockey Ireland’s Rio 2016 preparations
24 May 2016 – Dublin, Ireland: Pat Hickey President of the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) today announced that the OCI are contributing €50,000 towards Ireland Men’s Hockey’s final preparations for Rio 2016.
“The OCI are delighted that Irish Hockey will be competing at an Olympics Games for the first time since 1908 and will be the first team of any sport to represent Ireland at an Olympic Games since 1948.”
Hickey paid his compliments to the team’s achievement:
“I’m delighted for the team, and Hockey Ireland. It will create a new team dynamic within Team Ireland and we very much look forward to helping them maximise their potential in Rio.”
Head Coach, Craig Fulton said:
“On behalf of all of the squad, we are very grateful for this generous contribution from the OCI. This is an invaluable injection supporting our preparation to compete against the best teams in the world at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. It is a privilege to be part of Team Ireland and we are relishing the prospect of representing Ireland on the biggest stage in the world.”
Photo: David Harte ( Irish Hockey Team GK) , Stephen Martin (Chief Executive OCI), Pat Hickey (President OCI), Craig Fulton (Head Coach) , Kevin Kilty (Chef de Mission)
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Note to editors
The official schedule for the hockey event at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games has been announced.
The schedule see’s Ireland open their tournament against India at 11:00 on 6 August, before facing world number 2 the Netherlands on 7 August at 18:00.
The Green Machine have a rest day on 8 August and face Germany on 9 August at 12:30. Their pool games draw to a close against Canada on 11 August at 11:00 and Argentina on 12 August at 19:30.
From there, depending on pool standings, they could be in quarter final action on Sunday 14 August.
Ireland sit in Pool B alongside world number two ranked Netherlands, defending Olympic champions Germany (3); Argentina (6); India (7); and Canada (14).
Pool A sees reigning World and Hockey World League champions Australia, currently ranked number one in the world, face Great Britain (4 – based on England’s ranking); 2015 Hockey World League runners up Belgium (5); New Zealand (8); Spain (11) and hosts Brazil (32).
Footnote: The OCI have contributed to Irish Hockey programmes through its Olympic Solidarity Team Sport Programme in the 2004-8 and 2008-12 Olympic Cycle.
Rugby Women’s 7’s are the beneficiaries of the 2012-2016 Team Sport programme
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For more information:
Contact: Nick Dawes, Olympic Council of Ireland
Telephone: +447557435851
