{mosimage}{mosimage}Edit: See following story on Algeria qualifying for the Olympics: The FIE awarded a bid to Germany in error.
Month long rumors that Egypt would not be sending a Men’s Sabre team to the Olympic Games were confirmed today when the German federation announced that Germany would be sending their Men’s Sabre team to Athens to compete in the spot given up by Egypt.
The National Olympic Commitee (NOC) of Egypt will not send its men’s sabre team to Athens. Since Germany is the next highest team on the points list not already qualified, the International Fencing Federation (FIE) has extended an invitation to Germany to send their Men’s Sabre team to Athens.
Now the German NOC will need to accept the bid to send their team.
Implications for the Olympics
This moves Germany into the 6th slot for the tournament and moves the Chinese and US teams down to the 7th and 8th slots. This means that the US will be facing the Russian team in the 1st round while China faces Hungary.
Current 1st round pairings (seeds based on FIE official team rankings):
#1 Russia vs. #8 USA
#2 Hungary vs. #7 China
#3 France vs. #6 Germany
#4 Ukraine vs. #5 Italy