Message #2587

[AndyHB]

this is a bit of a non story really rugby is not an olmpic sport at the minute...

7s rugby was, IIRC, part of the last or possibly the previous Olympiad.

I don't see that there's any need for football to be in the Olympics at all!! It HAS its various World and European competitions - it doesn't need to bulldoze into the Olympics.

Its been part of the Olympic Games for 'ever' (it was only NOT included in 1896 and 1932) and a women's competition was added in 1996.

There has been no 'bulldozing' it in, because the Olympic competition predates any of the Continental (Euro/S.American/etc) competitions and and the World Cup which didn't start until 1930

The big difference is that the Olympic competition was only open to amateurs originally and when football became so massively professional, itt was limited to the under 21 (?) age group - for whom of course there is NOEW a World Cup competition anyway.