The Unified Team of Germany competed at the Olympic Games hockey tournaments in 1956, 1960, and 1964. During this time period, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) only permitted a "united" German team to participate at the Olympics. The East and West German hockey federations could not agree on the composition of the teams, so the Olympic representative was determined by a qualification series between the two countries. West Germany won all three of the series and thus their players competed at the Olympics. By 1968, both East and West Germany were allowed to field separate teams again.