Monaco has been selected to host the World Rugby Sevens Repechage, the final qualification event for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, on 19-20 June, 2021
• With 21 of the 24 teams already qualified for the Olympic rugby sevens competition, the remaining two women’s and one men’s spots will be determined in Monaco
• Rugby sevens’ Olympic preparations are being supported by US$4 million of World Rugby funding towards unions’ sevens programmes and high-performance preparation events
• The first inter-regional preparation event ahead of the Olympic Games will take place in Madrid, Spain, on 20-21 and 27-28 February
• Contingency planning for the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2021 continues to progress in collaboration with all host organisations and participating unions with a fully updated schedule to be communicated early in the new year
• The health and wellbeing of players, fans and the wider community remains top priority
World Rugby has today confirmed the repechage tournament for the Tokyo Olympic Games will take place in Monaco on 19-20 June, 2021. The decision was confirmed by the World Rugby Executive Committee following a comprehensive selection process and sees the event return to Stade Louis II, which also hosted the men’s competition prior to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
With 21 of the 24 teams set to compete at the Tokyo Olympics next year already confirmed, the final qualification event will feature 12 women’s and 12 men’s teams all vying to achieve the ultimate prize of securing the remaining two women’s and one men’s team places at the Olympic rugby sevens in Tokyo, which will take place on 26-31 July, 2021 at Tokyo Stadium.
The women’s competition will feature Argentina, Colombia, France, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Mexico, Papau New Guinea, Russia, Samoa and Tunisia. The men’s tournament will involve Brazil, Chile, China, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Jamaica, Mexico, Samoa, Tonga, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
The event, which will be hosted by the Monaco Union in partnership with the Monegasque government and the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation, will see the tenth edition of a youth rugby festival named ‘Sainte Devote Tournament’, hosting 16 teams from around the world in an under-12 mini sevens World Cup format run alongside the senior event.
Rugby sevens is expected to be one of the most highly anticipated events of the Tokyo Games, following the outstanding success of Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan, which captured the nation’s imagination with record-breaking broadcast audiences and huge numbers of new rugby fans across Japan and Asia.
The inclusion of rugby sevens for the first time in the Olympic Games at Rio 2016 had a profound effect on the sport, attracting an estimated 30 million new fans globally.