March 4 – England’s demand for a combined British team at next year’s Olympic Games in Rio has prompted a furious reaction from the head of Welsh football who says his country has been taken completely for granted.
In an unprecedented spat between the four British nations, who attempted to keep it under wraps at last week’s International FA Board meeting in Belfast, Welsh FA President Trefor Lloyd Hughes strongly condemned England’s apparent plans to enter men’s and women’s team in Rio without proper consultation.
GB teams played at the London 2012 Games but that was expected to be a one-off, ending half a century of non-participation. The Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish feared an all-British squad could set a precedent that affected their individual memberships of FIFA and UEFA, and refused to give their official backing but they did not stand in the way of any players who wanted to take part.
But now, the English FA has written to its counterparts laying out their plan for Rio.
“I am absolutely gutted with the English FA – very, very disappointed,” Lloyd-Hughes told the BBC.
“If they want to work with us they have to be more open and they don’t seem to be keeping to agreements. I’m livid about it.
“As far as the Olympics is concerned, they said London 2012 was just a one-off. Next it appears they have decided on their own to enter a team without discussing it with us.”
To add spice to the row, Hughes is competing against English FA nominee David Gill, the ex-Manchester United chief executive, for the FIFA vice-presidency reserved for the four British associations.
He has accused the FA of reneging on a written agreement that would see Wales take over the post in May from Northern Ireland’s Jim Boyce under the rotation system. The FA points to the fact, however, that the agreement no longer applies because under FIFA reforms the position is now elected by UEFA rather than just the British nations.
Hughes and Gill go head-to-head at elections at the UEFA Congress later this month and the former added: “England seem to want to run everything and take over the whole game. But we will not let that happen – the dragon on Wales has still got flame coming out of his mouth. We are not going to be bullied.”
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