I've had this post in the can for almost a week now, and I'm still not 100% confident in posting it - I'm gonna get flamed. Thing is, I feel very strongly about this after the beating football took in the press last summer when our precious Olympians were so successful. But from conversations I've had, it seems I'm almost alone. Oh well, here goes...
Not very surprising fact of the day: I am not in favour of a Great Britain football team entering the London Olympics in 2012. Seriously. No need to look so shocked.
Unfortunately, it's beginning to look like an inevitability, with sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe insisting this week that Team GB will enter the London football tournament. I am thoroughly and vocally opposed on all counts.
Here are the reasons why:
Internal opposition
"Team GB" would nominally consist of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The football associations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are opposed to the participation of a Great Britain team.
What on earth gives the authorities and the Football Association the right to go against the wishes of three fully-functioning full-member associations? Surely only a unanimous decision should produce the affirmative here?
Threat to sovereignty
FIFA has been making noises for years about this. Every time it's mentioned, FIFA has told us that if a Great Britain team can enter the Olympics, it should replace the four home nations on the grown-up international stage too.
Now, that seems to no longer be the case - or at least that's what the pro-GB lobby is telling us. As far as I'm aware, there remains a threat to the sovereignty of the four home nations. There is no way we should risk losing our status for a crappy tournament like the Olympics.
In FIFA, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are separate entities. Officially this is like suggesting Germany, France, Italy and Spain join forces.
English superiority?
Sutcliffe told the BBC that a team would be entered even if it were made up entirely of English players. How disgraceful is that?! Besides which, Sepp Blatter should be pointing out that nations have been suspended or threatened with suspension from FIFA for political interference in the game. Butt out!
The Olympics' bitch
Football should not be used to legitimise an unpopular Games. The huge (and ever-changing) cost of the Olympics in London is making it unpopular even among people who were initially in favour. Trying to bring football in to soften that blow is a cynical and blatant political tactic in which football should not become complicit.
It's never been wanted before, so you can't use it for your own ends now.
Short memories
"If only those prima-donna footballers had half the dedication of Chris Hoy or Rebecca Adlington." How many times did you hear bullshit like that last summer?
Professional footballers are overpaid, but they got to where they are thanks to a ridiculous amount of hard work and dedication. It's incredibly competitive, and the pressure is massive. What's more they're expected to perform every four days, not every four years. The complete lack of respect last summer as the pro-Olympics press beat the shit out of football while it wasn't even being played is why football should not be helping out the Olympics now.
Sub-standard tournament
Just weeks after Euro 2012, and overlapping the English domestic season, Olympic football is supremely poorly-timed. An under-23 tournament (plus three over-age ringers per team) as part of an ostensibly amateur event. Big woop. The Olympics is supposedly an amateur tournament - where exactly does a 22-year-old on £80,000 fall into that?
If I were a Premier League manager or owner with top British players in my squad, I'd be even more opposed to this. Granted, other nations already compete, but why should the British nations change for Sebastian Coe's convenience?
Only two countries care about the Olympics: Brazil, because they've never won it, and Argentina, because they love stopping Brazil.
Okay, so I've tried my hardest to present a coherent argument through a haze of anger and disgust, and I'm aware I've not done a great job. There are counter-arguments of course, such as the need for representation from our national sport, but for me it just isn't enough.
Sebastian Coe and his cronies are attempting to use football to clear up their mess. Perhaps the Olympic fraternity - fans and organisers alike - should have thought about this when showing such an utter lack of respect in side-swiping at football while dribbling over the once-every-four-years winners last summer.
Football is above the Olympics.
(Photo: some Olympics page)
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