Only English players could make GB football team
Gerry Sutcliffe determined to have GB football team
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Tuesday, 10, Mar 2009 09:02
Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe has insisted that Great Britain will have a football team at the 2012 Olympics – even if it made up of just English players.
The Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish football associations are all opposed to the idea of having a Great Britain team to compete in the London games as they believe it will threaten their "individual football status".
Sutcliffe revealed FIFA had given him written assurances that a Great Britain team would not risk the independent status of the four Home Nations, but warned that "there has always been and will continue to be a threat to that individuality because of the way Fifa is evolving", no matter what happens with the 2012 team.
There is a real possibility that a Great Britain team will now be made up of only English players and Sutcliffe admitted it was a "sad fact of what is going to happen unless we can try and resolve this issue."
Despite Sutcliffe's, the home nations still seem to be against the idea of a united Great Britain team to take part in the London Olympics.
"As has been made clear time and again, the Football Associations of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are unified in their opposition to Team GB," said the Scottish Football Association head of communications Rob Shorthouse.
"Any politician who continues to push the agenda of a such a damaging venture should do so in the knowledge that they are going against the wishes of the majority of the football family in the UK."