| Football at the 2006 Asian Games | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||
| Venues | Al-Ahli Stadium Al-Arabi Stadium Al-Gharrafa Stadium Al-Rayyan Stadium Al-Sadd Stadium Al-Wakrah Stadium Qatar SC Stadium | ||||||
| Dates | 18 November – 15 December | ||||||
| Competitors | 697 from 29 nations | ||||||
| Medalists | |||||||
| |||||||
Football at the 2006 Asian Games was held in Doha, Qatar from 18 November to 15 December 2006. The opening match was played 14 days prior to the opening ceremony. In this tournament, some 30 teams played in the men's competition, and 8 teams participated in women's competition.
Turkmenistan,[1] and Yemen withdrew from the competition before playing their first match. The organisation announced a new competition format because of this. Instead of only the group winners of the first round to go through to the second round, now also both runners-up qualified.[2]
Later India also announced their retirement, however they remained in the tournament on a "no cost to government basis".[3] Iran was taken out of competition prior to their first match, due to a suspension by FIFA.[4][5] However, FIFA lifted the suspension on Iran under-23 team on 26 November 2006 so they returned to the original Group D stage.[6]
Age limit for the men teams is under-23, same as the age limit in football competitions in Olympic Games, while three overage players are allowed among each squad.
- ^ Turkmenistan soccer team withdraws from Asian Games
- ^ Yemen pulls out of Asiad soccer tournament
- ^ "It's official, footballers will have a ball". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 25 November 2006.
- ^ "FIFA suspends Iran Football Federation". FIFA. Archived from the original on 2 January 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2006.
- ^ Iran out of football after FIFA ban Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "FIFA President announces temporary lifting of Iran ban". the-AFC.com. Archived from the original on 23 June 2007. Retrieved 27 November 2006.