Article Advise

submitted: Jul 30th 2008 | by: AntoniodaSilva | Total views: 2 | Word Count: 651 | |

The Olympic Games are now less than a month away, as is the start of the football tournament which will be held in various cities around China. Apart from the World Cup, the Olympic tournament provides the most useful indication of the strength and potential of many national teams coming into the next 2 World Cups, in this case, 2010 and 2014 in South Africa and Brazil respectively. The Olympic tournament has a rich history, being the first major international tournament preceding even the World Cup. In fact, it was the success of this tournament that propelled FIFA to organise a world tournament of its own, and the rest, as they say, is history.

The emergence of the World Cup in 1930 logically led to the decline of the Olympic tournament, not just in popularity but in prestige. FIFA's decision to limit the tournament to amateurs contributed to this decline, but at the same time, it had no choice since the prestige of its own World Cup had to be kept.

Today, the Olympic football tournament is restricted to players under the age of 23, which is ideal given that it fits in well with other FIFA under age tournaments such as the U/20s and U/17s. However, teams are also allowed to include up to 3 overage players in their teams and this is something that many, if not all teams, choose to exploit. This rule is, according to many, including this author, unnecessary and actually prohibitive to the purpose of the football tournament.

There are many people who are already thinking of posting a quick response to this article, but before putting hand to keyboard (as opposed to pen to paper), let me give a detailed analysis as what the tournament truly represents in the world of football

The overage player rule has generated controversy since it was introduced along with the under 23 rule in 1992 even though it was a move to give an equal chance to all teams. The problem lies with the overage players and whether they should be allowed to participate in the Olympics.

From the commercial point of view, it assures great publicity and coverage of the tournament as most overage players are seasoned internationals / professionals, and the presence of players of the calibre of Ronaldinho, Robinho, Messi and Riquelme will ensure that the tournament isn?t covered as some second-rate tournament (which it is in reality). So money and coverage seems to provide a tempting motive for allowing overage players. Apart from that, coaches will tell you that young players will learn much more and much quicker by playing alongside seasoned professionals. The overage rule provides a great opportunity for teams to help their younger players graduate from inexperienced players to experienced, confident professionals. Both of these reasons seem convincing as to why overage players should play at the Olympics.

Notwithstanding, money does talk at FIFA and the decision to include overage players is an indication that the origins and purpose of youth tournaments have been lost. While the tournament may be for players under the age of 23, it is still a youth tournament especially when it is compared to the World Cup Finals.

The fundamental feature of any youth tournament is the idea that it is a once in a lifetime opportunity, meaning that if you don't grab it the first time, you'll never again have the chance to try again. Both the Under 17 and 20 world championships are just like that and all players know they've got one chances to participate in such a tournament. On the other hand, when it comes to the Olympics, players will take the attitude that they will always have the opportunity to play in the tournament regardless of age. This attitude is not one to be encouraged in football. The Olympic tournament is and cannot be treated with such disdain and therefore the overage rule must be condemned to history.

About the Author

Author Antonio da Silva is one of the chief writers of SportsNewsFootball.com, a leading sports news football website known for its fearless and acute analysis of the major stories affecting the beloved game of football.

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