New Delhi: There are very few events that celebrate a wide range of sports like the Olympics does. This year, it returns to Paris, where the competition had started 124 years ago. Football, one of the most followed sports, has been part of the Olympics ever since. It has been played in every Olympics edition except 1932, hosted in Los Angeles. This was to allow the recently constructed World Cup to gain its followers.
16 nations will face each other this summer in the men’s tournament to win the gold medal. Brazil are contenders to becoming the first team to complete a hat-trick of wins in this competition. The competition allows football fans to look at the exciting young talent as the rules dictate players have to be under 23, and only three players are allowed from each nation to be over that age limit. The men’s teams have obliged to this rule since the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona.
Which Olympians would you include in your ultimate football starting XI, @usainbolt? 🤔
Check out this line up, you won’t be disappointed. 📆 Mark your calendars, Olympic football kicks off in less than a week! 🤩#Olympics | #Paris2024 | @socceraid pic.twitter.com/8vyN4LQ9Nz
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) July 17, 2024
A lesson in history: Football in Olympic games
The Olympic football competition has seen many changes since the 1900 Games. According to Olympic rules, only amateurs were allowed to participate then. However, by the 1920s, professional players were being selected as the popularity surrounding international football grew. By 1928, football was the most sought-after game of the event. This would lead to the inception of the World Cup two years later. To protect the competition, FIFA was keen on the Olympics maintaining their amateur status.
In the aftermath of World War II, the Soviet Bloc started to dominate the tournament as the state-sponsored athletes were ranked amateurs. The result was that the Soviet Union and its satellite nations won 23 of the 28 Olympic medals between 1948 and 1980.
Ronaldo kisses his bronze medal during the 1996 Olympics. pic.twitter.com/qfiClXeyzL
— 90s Football (@90sfootball) February 3, 2023
Rules were changed in the 1984 and 1988 games, allowing teams outside UEFA and CONMEBOL to play their strongest side. These nations were the epicentre of footballing potential and talent. The rules for the nations within these two federations required players to have not played in a World Cup.
The tournament then became an under-23 competition in 1992. In the next edition, the rules were changed slightly, allowing three players above the age of 23 to take part in the tournament, a rule that is maintained to this day. The primary reason for the rules in place is to avoid competition with the World Cup and restrict the best football players in the world from taking part in the tournament. It also means that the FIFA World Cup remains the biggest prize of the tournament.
Olympic Games has featured football since 1900. With the event only allowing U-23 players, look at the reason behind the rule. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
