ABOUT SOCCER

The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games kick off in a month, with the 2008 Olympic football tournament from 6th to 24th August.

For these games, the men will compete in a 16-team tournament (7th to 24th August) (the women will compete in a 12-team tournament - 6th to 21st August) with four groups of four teams each with the top two in each group progressing to the knockout stages.

Full national teams ceased to compete in the four-yearly competition in 1930 when the first World Cup was played in Uruguay. Since then, youth teams have competed in the men’s tournament and despite with the absence of senior players (men’s teams are allowed to augment their squad with three players over the age of 23) the tournament has proved to be quite entertaining over the years.