Football at The Olympics
So many football fans will be agog with questions, as to why countries do not select their best legs to compete at the Olympics football tournament. In this article, we look at how the Olympic football tournament works. We also explore the symbiotic relationship between FIFA and the IOC (International Olympic Committee).
Initially, there was no football tournament at the Olympics. Football became an Olympic sport in 1990, at the Games of the II Olympiad (Paris) and has been contested at every edition since, except for the Los Angeles 1932 Games (in an attempt to promote the new men’s FIFA World Cup tournament). Prior to 1990, FIFA did not want an international competition that would rival the world cup, so they made rules.
Male competitors are required to be under 23 years old, while all squads would have a maximum of three over-23-year-old players. That is to say that for your 18-man squad, you can only call 3 players over 23 years, while the remaining 15 must be under 23 years old. This reduced the flair and attractiveness of the competition to only a few matches (usually the semifinals, bronze medal match, and final), making it similar to an U23 or U20 FIFA competition.
Contrastingly for the women, countries are allowed to field their strongest teams, regardless of age. Why is this? FIFA wants to promote women’s football more, and create more publicity for women tournaments. That is where the symbiosis between both organizations come in.
The Olympic games is unarguably the biggest sporting event in the world. Athletes of all sports, color, size, race and ethnicity gather to contribute to building a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit.
Having a football tournament at the Olympics (albeit regulated) helps the IOC generate much more revenue from the Olympic games, especially from TV viewership deals and tickets. FIFA on the other hand get more publicity for the women’s game, and can test new laws or systems before deploying at bigger tournaments like the World Cup.
Players like Neymar got a chance to win something for their country on the big stage.
Another group of persons who benefit from this relationship are people we may term as “second-fringe” players. These players who may have missed out on representing their country in big stages like the World Cup or AFCON will finally have an opportunity to do so. Some good examples are Jean-Phillipe Mateta of France, Lacazette of France, Juan Miranda of Spain, Mo El-Neny of Egypt, etc.
While some may argue that not everyone gets an opportunity to win it, the Olympic gold medal for football remains a highly coveted accolade. Those who have won it are celebrated by their countries, and the world at large.