Afghanistan participated in the 2002 Asian Games held in Busan, South Korea, from September 29 to October 14, 2002. This marked Afghanistan's return to international sporting events after the fall of the Taliban regime. The Afghan delegation consisted of 12 officials (11 men and one woman) and 44 competitors (40 men and four women) participating in seven different sports. The Afghanistan national football team played its first international match since the 1984 AFC Asian Cup qualification phase. An English teacher from Kabul, Roia Zamani, won a bronze medal in the 72 kg middleweight class of taekwondo without winning a single match. Zamani was the only medalist from the Afghan side and the first Afghan medalist in 20 years. None of the remaining athletes advanced past the qualifying stages, and as such did not win any medals. Background Afghanistan is a member of the South Asian zone of the Olympic Council of Asia, and has competed in the Asian Games since the inaugural edition of the Games in 1951 in New Delhi. On September 26, 1996, the Taliban annexed the Kabul and established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. Under the Taliban regime all types of sporting activities were deprecated, as according to the Taliban, most of them were against the teachings of Islam and Islamic law. Many stadiums, like Ghazi Stadium of Kabul, were either destroyed or converted into venues for public executions and punishments. Women were banned from taking part in any type of sport; male athletes were allowed to participate in a few sports, but were forced to wear long sleeves, trousers and beards. Following such incidents and discrimination against women, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned Afghanistan National Olympic Committee and barred them from taking part in the Olympic Games. A few months before the 2000 Summer Olympics, the IOC offered the Afghanistan National Olympic Committee the opportunity to send a contingent to the Games without the Taliban flag. The Committee declined to take part on this condition. Afghanistan did not send any delegation to the 1998 Asian Games held in Bangkok, Thailand, due to economic difficulties. Laws implemented by the Taliban government also made it impossible for Afghan athletes to compete. For example, the International Boxing Association (AIBA) does not allow players to have beards and mustaches, but Afghan males were forbidden to cut their facial hair. Afghanistan returned to the Asian Games after the fall of