Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy has supposedly gained assurances from FIFA that the possibility of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales uniting to form a U-23 Great Britain Olympic Team would not impact future International Status and would be considered a “one off tournament”.
He said: “I’m a football fan, I’m a Scotland fan, as well as being the secretary of state and I share the concerns that many people had about the impact it might have on the Scottish national team. That’s why I met with Jerome Valcke, the general secretary of FIFA yesterday and told him about my concerns and the concerns that many Scots have.”
“He confirmed that FIFA, of course who regulate football, that the executive will agree that this one – off under – 23 tournament could take place and it will not jeopardise that statue of any of the home nations and I think that’s very welcome news.”
An SFA spokesman said, “We await with interest the outcome of Fifa’s deliberations next month but we must be clear on this.
“We will not do anything that we feel would jeopardise our status as a footballing nation in our own right. At this stage, we feel that a Team GB does just that.
“At some point, there is a real danger that a precedent of a Team GB will come back and threaten our status as a separate nation.”
The last time Great Britain had a team compete you ask? The 1972 Qualifying Competition in which GB lost to Bulgaria on a 6 – 1 aggregate over two legs.
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