QuoteThe GB team is not a member of FIFA so I see no reason why a player would be prevented from playing, just as Basque and Catalan players can represent their regions.
Quick question: Are Irish internationals with British citizenship technically eligible to represent GB at the Olympics or do you have to remain eligible for one of the four UK teams according to FIFA rulings?
The GB team is not a member of FIFA so I see no reason why a player would be prevented from playing, just as Basque and Catalan players can represent their regions.
GB is not a member of FIFA but FIFA is still the governing body and their rules have to be obeyed.
It's a UK team and players have to be eligible for one of the 4 UK associations, in order to be considered for selection.
So, even if Darron Gibson wanted to play for team GB, he couldn't.
Apparently, Michael O'Neill is keeping tabs on Sean Scannell: http://www.goal.com/en-ie/news/3942/...reland-call-up
Feeney is not the only English-born player being eyed up by O’Neill as reports suggest that he is looking to new Huddersfield midfielder Sean Scannell. The midfielder was born in London but has represented Republic of Ireland at underage level.Speaking of Scannell, could he, for example, have been considered for selection for Team GB? And if he had been selected, would that have counted as a switch of association, thus rendering him ineligible to play for us again?Originally Posted by geysir
These are the rules that apply: http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/tour...une2012_en.pdf
But not sure how that answers your question exactly.8: General Provisions
1. Each association taking part in the Tournaments shall ensure the following when selecting its representative team(s):
a) all players shall hold the nationality of its country and be subject to its jurisdiction;
b) all players shall be eligible for selection in accordance with the FIFA Statutes and relevant FIFA regulations, in particular articles 15 to 18 of the Regulations Governing the Application of the FIFA Statutes.
I notice that some countries don't actually wear the attire their national sides would usually wear were they not playing a game in the Olympics, like Spain here, for example:
Is there any significance in this? Perhaps they aren't deemed to be representing the same entity as would be competing in normal FIFA competition outside of the Olympics?...
Last edited by DannyInvincible; 26/07/2012 at 11:00 PM.
I'm not sure if being cap-tied to a non-UK association would apply though.
A bit of Friday morn entertainment from the Daily Mail (and comments): http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...al-Anthem.html
Oh, the shame, the shame...There was anger last night after Scottish and Welsh members of Team GB refused to sing the National Anthem.
Footballer Kim Little said she had made a ‘personal choice’ not to sing it before her team’s matches at the Olympics because she is Scottish.
Both she and another Scottish player, Ifeoma Dieke, stood silently as God Save The Queen was played before Great Britain’s opening match against New Zealand on Wednesday night.
And last night Welsh footballers Ryan Giggs and Craig Bellamy were criticised for failing to sing the National Anthem at the first British men’s football match of the Olympics.
Their decisions are likely to cause huge offence to many fans of Team GB.
Was reading about the 1908 Olympics and it turns out that Team GB's name is probably rooted in the British Olympic Association then deciding to compete under the title of "Great Britain/Ireland" rather than "UK" as they'd feared an Irish boycott. They were assigned the IOC country code of "GBR" for those Olympics and appear to have retained it ever since.
The same FIFA rules of eligibility apply to the GB Olympic team, the allowed exception for 'team GB' is that they can select players who are eligible to play for any of the 4 UK associations. Having a British nationality is not enough in itself to allow a player to be eligible for 'team GB'.
In theory, if Sean Scannell had applied for an international transfer from Ireland to England and was cleared to play for the FA, then he would have been eligible for the UK olympic team.
If he does not do whatever players have to do in order to be tied to the FA (get capped for England), then he would still be allowed to switch back to the FAI.
Playing for the UK olympic team would not be regarded as being tied to FA, it's not a 'normal' FIFA competition is it? He wouldn't be getting capped by the FA, therefore he could not be regarded as being tied to the FA.
All IMHO.
It's an interesting one, and I'll relate it back to my raising of the wearing of different jerseys. When players represent their country at the Olympics, are they deemed to be representing the national association that governs football in that country in FIFA-recognised competition or are they deemed to be representing some other entity; the governing Olympic association of that country perhaps? If FIFA competition is used as a qualification method, surely the Olympics also constitute official FIFA competition?
Are you not complicating it somewhat Danny?
Firstly Scannell in theory could have gone down the path to be transferred to the English FA and be selected by team GB, agreed?
A player can only be tied to his new association if he has been capped by that association. A player like Scannell would not be tied to England if he was capped by team GB, agreed?
The Olympics is not a 'normal' competition in that rules appear very flexible, the UK is represented by one team and once qualified an u21 team is allow 3 overage players. Offhand, I can't think where such flexibility is practiced in such a high profile tournament.
I assume all other teams have to comply with the regular FIFA rules, they have to in any case, doesn't the olympic qualification comes from the u21 official FIFA competitions? But by the time the squad has finished the u21's the players have aged 2 years
You'd assume that that the cap gained by a player at the olympics would be ranked somewhere between an u21 and a senior cap.
The full list of Olympic competitors from north of the border competing for either Team Ireland or Team GB at the Olympics: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-19019557
Transpires there could have been Irish footballing involvement in Team GB, after all.
Why exactly was it that no NI players were selected? Was it solely due to the IFA's objection to the concept of Team GB in football or were NI players simply not considered by Stuart Pearce?Emma Higgins from Ballymena is one of four reserves on Team GB Women's Olympic Football Team. Higgins has played for Glentoran and Northern Ireland. She is currently playing for Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur (Reykjavík Football Club), a successful Icelandic football team.
Perhaps. Although, I think the ambiguity and apparent lack of clear regulations to cover eligibility for Team GB (a non-member of FIFA) allows things to become somewhat convoluted and uncertain.
If Scannell could play for Team GB in theory, then why not, say, James McClean? Current eligibility for one of the four British associations isn't strictly stipulated as a criteria requiring satisfaction, is it? Craig Bellamy has caps for Wales but was still eligible to play for Team GB; in theory, why not McClean too in spite of his caps for us?
Also, what would have happened had England, NI, Scotland or Wales qualified via the Under-21 European Championship? No Team GB?
They weren't/aren't, er, good enough.
Would the IFA have tried to stall their inclusion had any of them been deemed good enough?
It would be particularly interesting if the NI u21s were good enough to qualify. What "team" would they be called at the olympics? GB or Ireland. Am I right in saying that the IOC represents all-Ireland?
If NI called themselves "Team Ireland", would they be able to select southern players on their team? Interesting.
I used to think I had a fairly good understanding of this sort of stuff, but...
Guessing on their various pronouncements of 'independence', a yes!
Would have been part of 'Team GB' undoubtedly.
IOC is only 'all-Ireland' in certain sports, of which Olympic football is sadly not one. So 'no' to the last point also.
Though happy to be corrected by DI et al.
The men's SFA and IFA asked for their players not to be selected. Pearce could have picked players from those countries but was instructed by his betters not to do so. The women's SFA and IFA had no such objections.
But there are no separate SFAs and IFAs for men and for women. (Or are there?) There's just the one SFA and there's just the one IFA, and I fail to see a distinction between allowing your women to be selected and allowing your men to be selected, as far as the principle is concerned. If they're satisfied a women's Team GB won't set a precedent that will lead ultimately to one UK team, why the fear that a men's team will?
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