Two events were due to take place: the men's tournament and the women's tournament. A total of 28 teams were due to participate (16 in the men's competition and 12 in the women's). Both the men's and women's squads were to consist of up to 12 players, meaning a total of 336 athletes were expected to take part.[3]
Competition schedule
The tournament was due to begin on 6 August and end on 12 August.[4]
Qualification
Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) was allowed to enter one men's team and one women's team into the competition. In order to play at the Games, these teams needed to qualify.[3]
The six continental confederations of FIFA were each allocated a certain amount of berths at the Games;[3] qualification events were organised for teams to compete against other members of their own confederation to try and earn one of their continent's spots at the Games. ANOC delegated the responsibility of organising qualification to Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW).[3] Qualification tournaments were for all confederations, however, for some, these qualification events were ultimately not be realised – in these cases, their teams which occupy the highest positions in the BSWW World Ranking as of 1 July 2023 were due to be granted qualification. The deadline for qualification to be completed was 2 July 2023.[4]
For both categories, the host country qualified automatically and one country who failed to qualify was also due to be invited to compete as a wildcard entry as a lucky loser.[3]
Multiple qualification tournaments had already been completed by the time of the Games' cancellation on 4 July 2023, with most participants confirmed.
^ abRefers to the publication date of the qualification system when it was revealed the hosts qualify automatically.
^ abAs of the qualification completion deadline of 2 July 2023, no preliminary qualification tournaments for the CONMEBOL region had been carried out. Per the qualification regulations, this meant that, as per the latest issue of the BSWW World Ranking, the top three men's CONMEBOL teams, and top two women's CONMEBOL teams, were to be granted the berths. These were Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay (men's); Brazil and Paraguay (women's).[12] However, the teams were not officially confirmed by BSWW before the Games were announced as cancelled on 4 July 2023.
^ abThe wildcard entries were not officially confirmed by BSWW before the Games were announced as cancelled on 4 July 2023. However, a media release by the Solomon Islands Football Federation on 3 July stated that its men's national team was preparing to participate.[13]
^Competed in qualification as England. England does not have an independent NOC and is instead represented by Great Britain at Olympic events.[6][14]
^The Kenyan national team was due to play a best-of-three tie against Cape Verde to determine who would qualify to the Games, however the latter withdrew at the last minute, meaning Kenya qualified on a walkover.[15]
^As of the qualification completion deadline of 2 July 2023, no women's preliminary qualification tournament for the AFC–OFC region had been carried out. Per the qualification regulations, this meant that, as per the latest issue of the BSWW World Ranking, the top women's AFC–OFC team was to be granted the berth. However, no AFC–OFC women's teams were ranked at the time.[12] Per the qualification regulations, it was then expected that a National Olympic Committee of the region would be invited to send a team. However, the team was not officially confirmed by BSWW before the Games were announced as cancelled on 4 July 2023.
^ ab"Rankings". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 8 May 2023. Archived from the original on 23 July 2023. Retrieved 23 July 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^Abana, Simon (3 July 2023). "Honiara Titans claim SIFF Invitational Beach Soccer Championship title". Solomon Islands Football Federation. Retrieved 5 September 2023. The Championship also served to select a national beach soccer team known commonly as the Biliki ahead of the OFC Beach Soccer Nations Cup and the invitational ANOC Beach Games also in August – a collaboration between the National Olympic Committee of Solomon Islands (NOCSI) together with SIFF to send a team in the football code.
