By David Gold
December 18 – Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has indicated that he will not prevent his players from competing at the London 2012 Olympic Games next year, despite having previously stated his opposition to their participation.
The Olympic Games men’s football tournament is for under 23 year olds, with three over-age exceptions allowed per squad.
The likes of Jack Wilshere, Kieran Gibbs and Aaron Ramsey are in line to be a part of Stuart Pearce’s squad, though the Team GB coach did say this week that any player playing in the European Championships earlier in the summer would not be selected.
That would probably rule out Wilshere, who is likely to be a part of the squad for the Euros, though Ramsey’s Wales have not qualified and so he will be a prime contender for Team GB.
Gibbs recently said that he would want to play at both tournaments if selected, and insisted that if picked, he would be keen to find a compromise that allowed him to play at London 2012.
Wenger has previously said that the football competition at the Olympics is “not a real tournament,” but indicated that he would not prevent his players playing when speaking to reporters on Friday.
“I think it is a federation, the FA who will decide that,” Wenger said.
“They have the rules in their favour and we do not have much input in that.”
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