- 16 Jul 08, 06:00 AM
Football and the Olympics have not always been the most comfortable of bedfellows - just look at the final in Athens which kicked off at 1000am local time in front of a half-empty stadium.
There was undoubted talent on show, with three of the Argentina side that won the competition, Gabriel Heinze, Javier Mascherano and Carlos Tevez, who scored the winning goal, all Premier League-bound.
But that evening's athletics finals took precedent and the football was kicked to a time when most locals were breakfasting while fans of finallists Argentina and Paraguay were staving off sleep.
Perhaps spurred on by their South American rivals, five-times World Cup winners Brazil are going all-out to win their first Olympic football gold in Beijing.
In Olympic competition, players must be under 23 years of age, with three over-23 players allowed per squad, so Brazil have named Barcelona's Ronaldinho and Real Madrid's Robinho among their ageing stars.
And there are a host of other Premier League and international stars on show.
But what of Great Britain? Well, it's a bit complicated.
There will be no team in Beijing, but the British Olympic Association has stressed its intention to put a unified team out at the London 2012 Games.
However, there is a slight stumbling block in that only England's Football Association is currently backing the idea.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have opposed the plan, chiefly in fear that they could lose their special status given to them by the game's governing body, Fifa, in 1947.
And Fifa president Sepp Blatter, despite initially saying a British team would not harm a country's independent status, has since backtracked to suggest that the opposite could happen.
So it's all dead in the water then?
Well maybe not.
One possible solution is to hold a mini-qualifying tournament between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with the winners going on to represent Britain in London.
Now, before you all start saying that's never going to happen, did you know the England national amateur side represented Britain and won two Olympic tournaments?
And along with Hungary, Britain are the only three-times winners of Olympic football gold.
Granted those GB victories came in 1900, 1908 and 1912 when the Olympics were in their infancy and for amateurs only.
Britain has not attempted to qualify for the Games since 1974 when the Football Association scrapped the distinction between professional and amateur players.
And some fans don't want to see a unified British returning to Olympic competition in London.
Where do you stand on the debate? Should Britain be represented in the 2012 Olympic football tournament?
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Comments
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a mini-qualifying tornament would be grat but when would it be????
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I reckon the summer of 2011 would be ideal as there will be no World or European Cup to worry about.
And as the majority of the players have to be under-23, it shouldn't affect the vast majority of Premier League 'stars' who are 'resting' ahead of the new season.
A little round-robin tournament with maybe the top two playing again in the final with the venue to be decided when the finallists are known.
For example, play it at Wembley if England are not involved, or Hampden if Scotland are not involved and so on.
Would generate massive interest and, who knows, it could lead to the resurrection of the home nations tournament again.
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Home Nations tournament re-instated?
Yes please!
Just make sure the goalposts at Wembley are more secure these days! :0)
Just out of interest, can someone explain why a unified football team, for the purposes of the Olympics only, would cause a problem with FIFA? What has it to do with them?
(Or am I being stupid?)
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MayorMcCheeseyFeet,
It's to do with Fifa recognising England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as individual football associations.
And Fifa president Sepp Blatter has said that a unified British team may harm each country's independent status within world football's governing body.
ie - I understand the gist of it to be, if Britain enters a team for the Olympics, why can't it do so for World and European championships as well?
And the fear of the individual nations is that that is exactly what may happen post 2012.
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It seems quite simple to me to resolve this issue.
The precendent was set in 1992 with the Russian Federation.
Simply have the four home countries playing under the Olympic banner.
i.e. England, Scotland, Wale and Northern Ireland all play not as a combined Britain but each nation individually as Olympians.
Of course there will only be 12 other spots for the other countries... but it seems odd that the host nation(s) cannot be present.
FA
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Speaking as someone that was born in England, went to primary school in Scotland and has a Welsh Mum I find the level of animosity between the countries that make up the UK to be rediculous at times.
For the purposes of football and rugby, I am English with Scotland as a second team.
In most matters I identify myself as British and would ideally like the chance to support a GB football team.
A qualifying tournament under Olympic eligability rules between the nations might work, each nation competing separately would be taking the mick.
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