Olympic soccer rules 2008

What is the Beijing Olympic football soccer ? It is one of the most popular summer Olympic 2008 sports.

Rules of Soccer Football in Olympics 2008 games

Basically, Olympic soccer is contested by men and women Under-23 sides with professional players allowed to enter. Eventual winners of each tournament to win an Olympic gold medal for soccer.

THE COMPETITION

In the Olympics men, 16 teams qualified to play in the football tournament of the Olympic Games:

Preliminary Round

The sixteen nations are divided into four groups of four teams each side playing the other once. The two nations with the highest points total in their respective groups qualify for the quarter-finals. The others are.

Quarter-finals
The eight countries benefiting from the preliminary group stage are drawn into four knock-out ties with the winner of each link qualification for the semi-finals. The loss of nations are overturned.

Semi-finals
The four countries are matched to twosemi finals which are played again as a knock-out called for equality with games going to extra time then a penalty shootout. Both victors go to play in the finals with the loss of two nations competing in a third-place game for the bronze medal.

Bronze Medal Match
Both nations lose the semi-finals of the competition in a match to direct elimination winners were awarded the bronze medal and the loss of the nation go home empty-handed.

Final
The two countries winners of the semi-final ties play each other with the winner taking home Olympic soccer gold medals and the losers taking Olympic soccer silver medals. If the game is tied after ninety minutes and extra-time and a penalty shoot-will be used to decide the gold medal winners.

Who can play for their nation?

Before 1984 only amateur players were allowed to play in the Olympic soccer tournament which led to a decline in interest in the competition. For the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has helped countries in Africa, Asia, Oceania, North America, Central America and the Caribbean in their professional field while national sides the nations of Europe and South America could field professionals who had not yet participated in the World Cup.

Since 1992, the IOC changed the rules again to make the Olympic soccer tournament Under 23 competition while allowing more than three players in each age group national team. The players are allowed to remain professional and now the current rules have allowed players such as Ronaldo, Carlos Tevez and Alberto Gilardino to competition.

EQUIPMENT

Olympic football is played exactly the same way as all other regulated football is played with FIFA regulations shirts, shorts and socks and actors on the studs football boots having taken the state of the ground into consideration.

Gold, silver and bronze

The nation which enjoys its preliminary group and win each of his quarter final, semi finals and finals will be awarded the Olympic soccer gold medal. The beaten finalists will be awarded the silver medal with the two beaten semi-finalists compete in a third-place Playoff with the winners of this game receiving the Olympic soccer bronze medal.