Poland's women's national team has secured funding and will compete at the final stage of qualifying for the 2026 Olympics.
Poland's women's national team has secured funding and will compete at the final stage of qualifying for the 2026 Olympics.
After having their Olympic hopes put in jeopardy, the Polish Ice Hockey Federation has found the money to support Poland's national women's ice hockey team's trip to Japan for the final round of Qualifying for the 2026 Olympics.
It comes after the association announced they did not have the funding for the team to continue, and Poland's president initially vetoed a bill that would have provided the funding.
"Polish Hockey will continue to be supported by the Ministry of Sport and Tourism, which announced a competition for offers for the implementation of a program to support the training and competition of national team players in ice hockey, badminton and cycling in 2025," the Polish Ice Hockey Federation wrote in a translated release.
"The Polish Hockey Federation decided that the Silesian Ice Hockey Association would submit an application for co-financing of training staff. This solution will enable co-financing of all training tasks, including participation in championship events, purchase of equipment, remuneration of trainers, etc. through an entity other than a sports association or the Polish Olympic Committee. The program being prepared will enable the settlement of expenses incurred in the period from January 1 to December 31, 2025.Thanks to this solution, the Polish women's national team will fly to Japan for the final tournament of the qualifications for the games."
Poland won their way to the final step of Olympic qualifying in December beating Korea, Chinese Taipei, and Mexico to win their group. From February 6-9 Poland will play China, Japan, and France for the opportunity to compete at the 2026 Olympics. One of those four teams will earn a berth to the tournament.