Home Countries Olympic Squads?

Pere Fornes

Squareonenews sport

The reason to ban separate squads in the Olympics seems to be that the home countries are not members of the International Olympic Committee. Only Great Britain is a member of the IOC.

There is an ongoing row about a GB football team reappearing, probably for the London 2012 Olympics. Scotland and Wales do not want to join a GB football team because they see this as a first step towards losing their independent status and towards having to compete in a GB football team in all international tournaments. Furthermore, this could imply that the four home countries could lose their voting rights within FIFA and would have to merge their separate associations into a GB one.

It would be unfair to have a GB football team in the 2012 Olympics represented only by English players because the Scottish and Welsh had refused to join it.

As squareonenews reported, there was one time in the Olympic history when the home countries hockey squads played separately and this year is the 100th anniversary of that event.

That sets a precedent. If there was one time when English, Scottish and Welsh squads played in the Olympics, there can be a second time.

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