Rugby sevens is a smaller, shorter version of rugby union football, in which the teams have only seven players and play seven-minute halves. Rugby sevens was approved for inclusion to the Olympic Program by the IOC Executive Board in 2001, but the proposal was tabled by the IOC Session, and dismissed at the 2005 IOC Session. It was brought up again in 2009, when the IOC approved it for inclusion in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, and rugby sevens is on the program for the 2020/21 Tokyo Olympics.
Rugby sevens is governed by World Rugby (WR), which is recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Founded in 1886 as the International Rugby Football Board, it was renamed to the International Rugby Board in 1996 and to its current name of World Rugby in 2020. It has 108 member nations, with 20 associate nations as of 2021.