British olympic football team... Yay or ney?

[ChiChoAndy]

So... Do we think the British football team should go ahead, and what do folks think about the reluctance of the FA's of Scotland, Wales, and NI? Personally, I think enough guarantees have been given that it won't affect the independence of the individual FA's, but what do I know...

This is in light of this article;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics/london_20...

Which replaced this previous days article which stated that a Team GB agreement was close. It cannot be found now.






I wonder why they didn;t make a new article, rather than replace an existing one from the day before, which relates to this one?

[MR Kirbyz]

The fact all countries except England are moaning about this is there is only one player from these countries who has a realistic chance of being in the team (Gareth Bale). Possibly even Aaron Ramsey at a push.

Well i hope it goes ahead as i would love to see Bale win a medal internationally.
Sometimes it gets depressing watching your own country not make any major finals with some players on the team who deserve to be in these types of tournaments. Ryan Giggs also included in this along with Mark Hughes in his golden days.

[barky]

Team GB football team likely to be 100% English as things seem right now -- would be strange to have Northern Ireland included really as they are part of UK, not GB !!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/london_20...

[Bing o]

MR Kirbyz said:

Well i hope it goes ahead as i would love to see Bale win a medal internationally.

What medals have the English football team won recently? (in the last 50 years)

[XJSJohn]

Bing o said:

MR Kirbyz said:

Well i hope it goes ahead as i would love to see Bale win a medal internationally.

What medals have the English football team won recently? (in the last 50 years)

[ewenm]

barky said:

Team GB football team likely to be 100% English as things seem right now -- would be strange to have Northern Ireland included really as they are part of UK, not GB !!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/london_20...

We compete in the Olympics as Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but it's usually just shortened to GBR.

I still don't know why football (and tennis) are Olympic sports though. Winning Olympic Gold isn't the highest achievement in those sports so, for me, they shouldn't be there.

Edited by ewenm on Wednesday 22 June 07:52

[fathomfive]

I've voted no because I can't understand why football is included in the olympics to start with.

[TonyHetherington]

Wouldn't Euro 2012 get in the way?!

[ChiChoAndy]

So what makes a sport viable for the Olympics, and others not?

[fathomfive]

ChiChoAndy said:

So what makes a sport viable for the Olympics, and others not?

That is a difficult question to answer.

Having football in there just doesn't 'feel' right to me. Maybe it is because compared to the World Cup, winning an olympic gold in football seems quite meaningless.

[ChiChoAndy]

fathomfive said:

That is a difficult question to answer.

Having football in there just doesn't 'feel' right to me. Maybe it is because compared to the World Cup, winning an olympic gold in football seems quite meaningless.

Well, it tends to be under 23's that play, not the full international squads. Personally, I think they should be amateur players, but then you'd have to exclude all the professional athletes who participate.

What do folks think about the more important point, I feel, and the concerns of the FA's about their independence, despite guarantees from FIFA? (Not that I'd trust FIFA as far as I could kick them)

[bobr]

Bing o said:

What medals have the English football team won recently? (in the last 50 years)

There was that small tournament 45 years ago

[ewenm]

ChiChoAndy said:

So what makes a sport viable for the Olympics, and others not?

What do you mean by "viable"?

To me a sport should only be in the Olympics if winning Olympic gold would be the highest possible achievement in that event.

Football - highest achievement is winning the World Cup.
Tennis - highest achievement is winning Grand Slams.
Road Cycling - highest achievement is winning a Tour de France jersey.

Most Olympics have demonstration events in sports that are looking to be given full Olympic status. I'm not sure what the process is for that and how sports are picked to be demo events and then on to full Olympic events.

[ChiChoAndy]

Bing o said:

MR Kirbyz said:

Well i hope it goes ahead as i would love to see Bale win a medal internationally.

What medals have the English football team won recently? (in the last 50 years)

He never said anything about England winning anything. But you have to be in it, to win it.

[ewenm]

ChiChoAndy said:

What do folks think about the more important point, I feel, and the concerns of the FA's about their independence, despite guarantees from FIFA? (Not that I'd trust FIFA as far as I could kick them)

I wouldn't be surprised if TeamGB didn't enter a football team due to those concerns.

[MiniMan64]

ewenm said:

ChiChoAndy said:

What do folks think about the more important point, I feel, and the concerns of the FA's about their independence, despite guarantees from FIFA? (Not that I'd trust FIFA as far as I could kick them)

I wouldn't be surprised if TeamGB didn't enter a football team due to those concerns.

And yet somehow Rugby manages it, ever heard of the Lions?

I say go for it, it won't all be English players as the Olympic team is U23 only with a few older players. Could be an interesting team I guess, especially seeing as the Premier League teams will probably pull their first team players anyway.

[ewenm]

MiniMan64 said:

ewenm said:

ChiChoAndy said:

What do folks think about the more important point, I feel, and the concerns of the FA's about their independence, despite guarantees from FIFA? (Not that I'd trust FIFA as far as I could kick them)

I wouldn't be surprised if TeamGB didn't enter a football team due to those concerns.

And yet somehow Rugby manages it, ever heard of the Lions?

I say go for it, it won't all be English players as the Olympic team is U23 only with a few older players. Could be an interesting team I guess, especially seeing as the Premier League teams will probably pull their first team players anyway.

The Lions and Barbarians are touring teams, rather than teams competing in a championship/games. But yes, the RFU and home nations seems able to handle joint teams without getting their knickers in a twist.

Perhaps football should copy Rugby - 7s is in the schedule for 2016, maybe football could have a 5-a-side tournament at the Olympics...

[ChiChoAndy]

Well, the Basketball players are played, and traded. I do think the Olympics should be amateur, as I said.

[ExChrispy Porker]

Gaz. said:

Are any athletes on a payroll other than sponsorship money? I can't imagine Thames Valley Harriers paying an athelete, nor would TVH 'own' an athlete and buy and sell athletes like a football club.

Top athletics clubs do indeed pay their athletes.
They also 'own' them in as much as they are restricted by UKA as to who they can represent. The 'transfer market' is formal and bureaucratic between clubs.

Having said that, lots of athletes belong to 2 or 3 clubs simultaneously, and compete in different leagues with each.

[yellowbentines]

bobr said:

There was that small tournament 45 years ago

News to me, you think they might mention it now and again for the benefit of the unenlightened...maybe drop in a mention every time there's a big tournament...perhaps pre, mid and post match every 10 minutes or so...