Football

Football is commonly referred to as the “world game” and its origins can be traced back to the ancient civilisations in China, Greece, Rome and Egypt.

Football made its Olympic debut in Paris in 1900, along with water polo, rugby, cricket, polo and tug-of-war. Since its introduction, football for men has missed featuring on the Olympic program only once, at Los Angeles 1932. Women’s football was added to the Olympic program in 1996 at the Atlanta Games.

Qualification

One representative per FIFA Confederation (see list below) for boys and girls will participate in the YOG, i.e. 6 x 2 = 12 teams in total. With Singapore as the host nation represented in the Boys’ Competition.   

FIFA Confederations: AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, OFC, UEFA. Each NOC is limited to competing in two team sports at the YOG and therefore will not be competing in Football. Women’s Handball and men’s hockey are the chosen sports for Australia this time around. 

Age Group

Athletes competing in this sport must be born between 1/1/95 and 31/12/95.

Competition Format

There is a 6-team boys’ and 6-team girls’ competition at the Games. Both events have the same format and rules. Six teams are divided into two groups of three teams. Each team plays every other team in the group once (league system) with three points for a win, one for a draw and none (0) for a defeat. The two teams ranked first and second in each group play in the semi-finals, while the teams ranked third in each group play for 5th/6th place. The semi-final winners play in the gold medal match and the losers play in the bronze medal match.

Venue

Otherwise known as the “birthplace of football” in Singapore, Jalan Besar Stadium was originally built in 1932. The stadium was the venue for major events such as the first Singapore Youth Festival in 1955, the first Singapore Armed Forces Day in 1969 and the 1984 National Day Parade. It was then rebuilt and reopened in June 2003. Featuring a large 6,000 spectator capacity, the stadium was laid over again in 2008 with a better quality artificial turf, making the Jalan Besar Stadium field into the first-ever FIFA-approved Third Generation Football Turf in Singapore. The stadium also hosts S.League games, the top professional league in Singapore games that are broadcasted on local television.

Australia and Olympic football

Australia first entered a football team in Melbourne in 1956 but it was not until Seoul 1988 that another Australian team was fielded. The best result, a fourth placing, was achieved at Barcelona 1992.

Since women’s football was added in 1996, Australia has been represented by the Matildas at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004. The fifth placing in Athens has been their best result.