"No one, bar a handful of politically-motivated zealots in London, wants a GB football team precisely because they recognise the huge threat this poses."
Sepp Blatter may be many things, but "a politically-motivated zealot in London"?
His words in 2005:
'We have confirmed in writing that they have to provide a Great Britain team for the 2012 Olympics, but the four British associations will not lose the rights and privileges acquired back in 1947.
'They will play with one team but it is up to them how they do it. It can be a mixed team, it can be from just one of the home nations, whatever they want to do.'
The answer is obvious, a return of the British Championships, with the requisite alteration regarding age (Under 23). England would probably win anyway, so what's the problem?
8 comments:
Nice quote from 2005. Here's a quote from the same man in 2008
"If you start to put together a combined team for the Olympic Games, the question will automatically come up that there are four different associations so how can they play in one team.
"If this is the case then why the hell do they have four associations and four votes and their own vice-presidency?
"This will put into question all the privileges that the British associations have been given by the Congress in 1946."
The situation remains, that FIFA has declared there must be a British team competing at the Olympics. Nothing that Blatter or any of his minions have said post 2005 has challenged that.
Brown's (Craig not Gordon!) suggestion that all four teams compete as UK teams has merit; one way or the other we'll soon know an answer.
Hmmm...Selective use of the Blatter quote.
Blatter was asked whether, if there was one British team at the 2012 Games, there would be subsequent calls from within Fifa to have one British World Cup team. He replied: "Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure. The best solution for London (in 2012] is that only the English team play. That's the best solution. To make a combined team is not a good idea."
Frankly I couldn't care less what Blatter or any of his potential successors have to say on this matter.
The decision is not theirs. The privileged position of the British home nations relies on the continued good will of the rest of the World's football federations. All else is politics and hyperbole.
There's something else worth reading in the report:
"FIFA's executive committee is due to meet next Friday in Tokyo, where Grahame claims they will consider a formal complaint made by her regarding alleged political interference by the British Government, who she believes are conspiring to undermine the independence of the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish football associations."
If Grahame's complaint is upheld, then will FIFA, as they did with Greece and Poland, suspend the Scottish FA due to this political interfernce which she has (in a non-political nor interfering way) kindly highlighted
Craig Brown rejected the tournament idea yesterday on Politics Show Scotland. He said that this "competition" could be used by FIFA as a way for choosing the "UK" team in the World Cup.
He said he would not counternance any move that would threaten Scotland's chance of getting into the World Cup. And no true Scot would either (swipe at his namesake)
Here he is on the i-player at the end of the show.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00g3d8l/b00g3d60/The_Politics_Show_Scotland_14_12_2008/
I'm quite neutral on the tournament idea since having one nation's team represent the UK is safer than a mixed team.
Having said that, if there has to be a team (and I don't see why there has to) then I'm happy enough with the current arrangement - the English can dress up as GB if they want and I'll do the same as every other Olympics since I was born - not watch the football)
The problem with the Home Championship idea is that England don't want to "waste" friendly dates in playing the Celtic countries. That's why the ROI are joining the other thee in a Celtic Championship year after next.
Oh dear me!
Get the message, Scots do not want involved in this nonsense, no matter what the ladder climbing uncle Tim Murphy says.
The English crown has a lot to answer for.
The fact that the SNP are so against a UK team in 2012 confirms that deep down, they know that Scottish Independence is not going to happen anytime soon.
Were they to get independence, FIFA would automatically recognise them as "Scotland" (as they immediately recognised Slovakia and the Czec Republic)and they would have their own team. This fear of the four home nations being amalgamated confirms that they know the UK is thankfully here to stay!!
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