Home Nations Anger At Olympic ‘deal’

The British Olympic Association has announced a ‘historic agreement’ to field a men and women’s Team GB football side at the London 2012 Olympics – a deal that is not in place according to the Football Associations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

While the English Football Association is behind the BOA, a collective statement from the other nations denied any agreement had been made with them.

The statement said: ‘No discussions took place with any of us, far less (has any) historic agreement been reached. The Football Associations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland reiterate our collective opposition to Team GB participation at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, contrary to the media release issued by the BOA’.

‘We have been consistently clear in explaining the reason for our stance, principally to protect the identity of each national association. With that in mind, we cannot support nor formally endorse the approach that has been proposed by the Football Association’.

The chief executives of each opposing nation signed the joint statement.

The last time a Great Britian football team competed at the Olympics was in 1960, failing to win a medal – it will be the first time that a women’s Great Britain football team will compete at an Olympic Games.

The English Football Association will have responsibility for nominating the managers, players and support personnel to the BOA for final selection.

A statement from the BOA said: ‘All four associations have received a written assurance from the secretary general of FIFA, the international federation for football, that participation in the 2012 Olympic football tournament will in no way compromise their autonomy and independence for other FIFA-sanctioned tournaments, nor will it have any impact on their positions of leadership within the FIFA governance structure’.

The men’s squad will comprise of 15 U23’s, and three ‘open-age’ players – however players participating in the European Championships, just a month before the Olympics, are unlikely to be included.

There is no age limit for the women’s football team.

The first event of the Olympics will be a women’s football match at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on 25th July 2012.