All games were played at the hockey centre within the Hellinikon Olympic Complex in Athens, Greece.

[2] 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.

Eventually Greece withdrew from participating in the 11-14 March 2004 play-off competition in Auckland, New Zealand, due to "explicit financial reasons".