Kenya Sevens' Festus Shiasi in action at a past tournament/HANDOUTShujaa and Kenya Lionesses will have three opportunities to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games after World Rugby confirmed the qualification pathway.
The race will begin with the HSBC SVNS 2027 season, which kicks off in Dubai in November 2026 and concludes in Bordeaux in May 2027. The most direct route for Kenya will be through the SVNS Championship standings, with the top four eligible teams in both the men’s and women’s competitions, excluding host USA, securing Olympic qualification.
Shujaa and the Lionesses can therefore book their places in Los Angeles by finishing among the four highest-ranked eligible teams at the end of the 2027 SVNS season. This makes every tournament on the 2027 circuit crucial as Kenya seeks to build consistency and accumulate enough points to remain in contention for a top-four finish.
Should either team miss out on direct qualification, another opportunity will come through the regional pathway. Six regional qualification tournaments will be held in the second half of 2027, with one men’s and one women’s Olympic quota place available through each of World Rugby’s six regional associations.
For Kenya, the Africa regional qualifier will provide another chance for Shujaa and the Lionesses to secure their Olympic tickets by emerging as Africa’s representatives. Teams that fail to qualify through either the SVNS standings or regional tournaments will have one final opportunity at the Olympic Repechage in June 2028, where the last men’s and women’s places will be decided.
Kenya’s Sevens teams therefore have three potential routes to LA28 — a top-four finish in the 2027 SVNS standings, winning the African regional qualifier or progressing through the Olympic Repechage. With support from the National Olympic Committee of Kenya through the LA28 Scholarship Programme, preparations will focus on early planning, consistency and ensuring every competition contributes towards the Olympic target.
For Shujaa, who have featured at previous Olympic Games, qualification would offer another chance to compete on the global stage, while the Lionesses will be seeking to secure Kenya’s place in the women’s Olympic sevens competition. With the qualification race beginning in the 2026/27 season, every tournament, point and performance will count.
