How The Overage Player Rule Tarnishes The Olympic Tournament
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by: AntoniodaSilva
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The Beijing Olympics are now a month away including the Under 23's Olympic football tournament to be held at different venues in China. While many people may think otherwise, it is actually a tournament with a lot of history and with a lot of purpose. Firstly, what many people don't know is that the Olympic tournament was the first international football tournament, the World Cup was created afterwards and was largely the result of the success of this Olympic tournament. Secondly, the Olympic tournament provides teams (and fans alike) with a good indication as to how teams are shaping up for the next 2 World Cups.
The establishment of the World Cup led to the Olympic tournament falling in importance and prestige, and this wasn't helped by FIFA deciding to keep the tournament exclusive to amateurs among other restrictions.
Nowadays, participating in the tournament is restricted to players under 23 years of age, and it perfectly complements FIFA's other youth tournaments are under 17 and 20 level. Nevertheless, FIFA also allows teams to field 3 overage players and which is almost always taken up. Such a rule is considered nonessential and actually against the purpose of the tournament by many, including myself.
Now, before everyone starts writing their responses to this article, let?s analyse the reasons behind the creation of this rule as well as what it (supposedly) contributes and what it has (supposedly) contributed.
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.
Nevertheless, under the lure of TV money and satisfied coaches, FIFA seems to have forgotten the roots of its youth tournaments. Now, the Olympic tournament may not be a youth tournament in the traditional sense of the word. Nobody seems to connect the word youth with a 22 year old player. But it is essentially a youth tournament when compared to the World Cup which is open to any and every age.
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 the main writer of SportsNewsFootball.com, a leading sports news football website known for its daring and acute analysis of the major stories affecting the beloved game of football.
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