Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's African Qualifiers explained

Tourney Name:Summer Olympics – Men's Football African Qualifiers
Year:2008
Prevseason:2004
Nextseason:2012

The African Men's Olympic Qualifiers were held to determine the African national teams for under 23 which participated at the 2008 Summer Olympics football tournament held in Beijing.

Preliminary competition was divided in three rounds. The first two rounds were knock-out rounds, and the final round was a group stage.

First round

First leg played on September 1 to September 3, 2006. Second leg played on October 6 to October 8, 2006.

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Only one leg because of security concerns in Somalia.

Only one leg because of security concerns in Djibouti.

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Second round

First leg played on February 7 and February 8, 2007. Second leg played on March 23 to March 25, 2007.

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Burkina Faso penalized by FIFA for allegedly using two overage players during first leg match against Ghana. The original score was Burkina Faso won by 2–0.[1]

DR Congo failed to appear, and blamed poor flight connections. FIFA handed walkover to Senegal.[2]

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Final round

Matches played from June 1, 2007 to March 26, 2008. The winner of each group will represent Africa at the 2008 Olympic Games.

Group A

Ethiopia has withdrawn from the Olympic qualification after the first match due to millennium festivities in their country.[3]

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Group B

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Group C

--------Match abandoned at 80, when six Botswanan players were sent off forcing the referee to call off the game.------------

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKL2601582820070226 Burkina Faso punished by FIFA for using over age players
  2. https://www.fifa.com/tournaments/archive/mensolympic/beijing2008/news/newsid=113899.html Beijing field narrows in Africa
  3. http://www.kickoffnigeria.com/stories/story8523.html Ghana await FIFA over Ethiopia pull-out