The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until the 1978 Games. Since the 1982 Games, they have been organized by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), after the breakup of the Asian Games Federation. The Games are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and are described as the second largest multi-sport event after the Olympic Games.
A multi-sport event is an organized sporting event, often held over multiple days, featuring competition in many different sports among organized teams of athletes from (mostly) nation-states. The first major, modern, multi-sport event of international significance was the Olympic Games, first held in modern times in 1896 in Athens, Greece and inspired by the Ancient Olympic Games, one of a number of such events held in antiquity. Most modern multi-sports events have the same basic structure. Games are held over the course of several days in and around a "host city", which changes for each competition. Countries send national teams to each competition, consisting of individual athletes and teams that compete in a wide variety of sports. Athletes or teams are awarded gold, silver or bronze medals for first, second and third place respectively. Each games are generally held every four years, though some are annual competitions.
The Asian Football Confederation is one of the six confederations within FIFA and is the governing body of association football in Asia and Australia. It has 47 member countries, most of which are located in Asia.
The Syria national football team represents Syria in association football and is controlled by the Syrian Arab Federation for Football, the governing body for football in Syria. Syria has never qualified for the World Cup finals but did reach the fourth qualification round in 2018. The team is currently banned by FIFA from playing at home, as they have not hosted a game since December 2010.
The Southeast Asian Games, also known as the SEA Games (SEAG), is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with supervision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).
The East Asian Games was a multi-sport event organized by the East Asian Games Association (EAGA) and held every four years from 1993 to 2013. Among those who competed included athletes from East Asian countries and territories of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA), as well as the Pacific island nation of Guam, which is a member of the Oceania National Olympic Committees.
The 2006 Asian Games, officially known as the XV Asiad, was an Asian multi-sport event held in Doha, Qatar from December 1 to 15, 2006, with 424 events in 39 sports featured in the games. Doha was the first city in its region and only the second in West Asia to host the games.
The 1958 Asian Games, officially the Third Asian Games and commonly known as Tokyo 1958, was a multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 May to 1 June 1958. It was governed by the Asian Games Federation. A total of 1,820 athletes representing 20 Asian National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in the Games. The program featured competitions in 13 different sports encompassing 97 events, including four non-Olympic sports, judo, table tennis, tennis and volleyball. Four of these competition sports – field hockey, table tennis, tennis and volleyball – were introduced for the first time in the Asian Games.
The 1962 Asian Games also known as the 4th Asian Games, IV Asiad, and Jakarta 1962, was the fourth edition of pan-Asian multi-sport event sanctioned by the Asian Games Federation (AGF). The games were held from 24 August to 4 September 1962, in Jakarta, Indonesia. It was the first international multi-sport event hosted by the then-17-year-old Southeast Asian country. This was the first of two Asian Games hosted by the city: the second was held in 2018, with Palembang as the co-host.
The 9th Asian Games were held from 19 November to 4 December 1982, in Delhi, India. 74 Asian and Asian Games records were broken at the event. This was also the first Asiad to be held under the aegis of the Olympic Council of Asia. Delhi joined Bangkok, Jakarta, and Doha as the cities to host multiple editions of the Asian Games up to this point.
The 2010 Asian Games, also known as the XVI Asian Games, was a multi-sport event celebrated in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China from 12 to 27 November 2010, although several events had commenced from 7 November 2010. This was the second time China had hosted the Games, in which Guangzhou was the second Chinese city to host, after Beijing in 1990. A total of 9,704 athletes from 45 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competed in 476 events from 42 sports and disciplines, making it the largest event in the history of the Games. Due to reductions in the number of sports to be contested for the 2014 Asian Games, these Games marked the final time that six non-Olympic events would be held during the Asian Games.
The 2014 Asian Games, officially known as the 17th Asian Games, was a pan-Asian multi-sport event held in Incheon, South Korea. This was the third time South Korea hosted the Asian Games since 2002. Previously, it hosted the 1986 edition of the Games and the 2002 Asian Games.
The West Asian Games was a multi-sport event held every four years among the athletes from West Asia.
The South Asian Games, formerly known as the South Asian Federation Games, is a quadrennial multi-sport event held among the athletes from South Asia. The governing body of these games is South Asia Olympic Council (SAOC), formed in 1983. Currently, the SAOC comprises 7 member countries, namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan started participating in the SAF Games in 2004 and left the SAOC after participating in the 2016 edition.
The India men's national field hockey team represents India in international Field hockey competitions, and is governed by Hockey India. The team was formerly under the control of Indian Hockey Federation. India was the first non-European team to be a part of the International Hockey Federation. In 1928, the team won its first Olympic gold medal and until 1960, the Indian men's team remained unbeaten in the Olympics, winning six gold medals in a row. The team had a 30–0 winning streak during this time, from their first game until losing in the 1960 gold medal final. India also won the World Cup in 1975. India's hockey team is the most successful team ever in the Olympics, having won eight gold medals in 1928, 1932, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1964 and 1980. India also has the best overall performance in Olympic history with 83 victories out of the 134 matches played. They have also scored the most goals in the Olympics than any other team. They are also the only team to ever win the Olympics without conceding a single goal in 1928 and 1956.
Men's football tournament has been a regular Asian Games sporting event since the 1951 edition, while women's tournament began in 1990.
Football has been part of the Southeast Asian Games sport since the 1959 edition. The women's football competition was held for the first time in 1985 in Thailand.
The Asian Para Games also known as Para Asiad is a multi-sport event regulated by the Asian Paralympic Committee that's held every four years after every Asian Games for athletes with physical disabilities. Both events had adopted the strategy used by the Olympic and Paralympic Games of having both games in the same city. However, the exclusion of Asian Para Games from Asian Games host city contract meant that both events run independently of each other. The Games are recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and are described as the second largest multi-sport event after the Paralympic Games.
The 2018 Asian Games, officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta–Palembang 2018, was a continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 August to 2 September 2018 in Jakarta and Palembang.
The 2022 Asian Games, also known as XIX Asiad, will be a multi-sport event celebrated in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China from 10 to 25 September 2022. Hangzhou will be the third Chinese city to host the Asian Games, after Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou in 2010.
