Team GB - what a joke

Tears were being shed by football fans all over Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland after the decisions by their respective FAs to decline the opportunity to be involved in Team GB. And of course there was also mass mourning in England at the fact that only English players will be involved, instead of a synergising of stars from all the home nations.

Aye. Whatever.

Of course, the pressing need of the Prime Minister (and lord knows no-one else seems to care) for a British football team at the Olympics is all to do with national pride and the intention to have representatives from the hosts in all events. It is nothing to do with the fact that the football tournament was the most watched competition at the Beijing Olympics, and made the most income. Absolutely nothing. Actually, considering the complete failure of the press to notice this, you would be forgiven for not realising the cynicism behind all this.

For the love of Ryan Giggs, the Olympic football tournament is ridiculous. Every team is allowed only three members of their squad over the age of 23. Whereas in every other Olympic sport, the four-yearly event is the pinnacle (with the exception of tennis, which is also a bit of a joke at the Olympics), football has the World Cup. It also has, in the same year as the London games, Euro 2012. And by the time London comes round, the club season will have started and who the heck will be happy releasing players for this as well?

Add in the problem of actually compiling the team - how many non-English players would be amongst the best 22 available for the tourney? Maybe last year the likes of Craig Gordon and Alan Hutton might have been considered, maybe there would be a sentimental clamour for Ryan Giggs' inclusion now, but basically a team GB would, ultimately, be a team England, or a crappy combination of a few top English youngsters with greatly inferior Scottish, Welsh and Ulster ones in order to satisfy political demand.

And I haven't even mentioned the whole Sepp Blatter and the loss of a Scottish national team thing.

If it has to go ahead, then the current solution from today is the correct one. But the mugs in charge of it all had better consider again whether they really want to consider playing some matches at Hampden; just consider the reception "Team GB" might get from the locals. Talk about a PR disaster waiting to happen.

Actually, that last sentence probably describes the Prime Minister to a tee. How fitting.

L.