Since the triumph of the 1924 edition in Paris, the Olympic Games have largely restricted the participation of footballers in the men’s tournament, causing the competition to lose interest.
Like his predecessor, Sylvain Ripoll, in 2021, Thierry Henry did not escape the headaches when it came to composing the list of French players for the Olympic football tournament. The fault lies in the refusal of many clubs to release their players for the competition, since they are not obliged to do so by FIFA. A situation that weighs on the consideration of football at the Olympics, especially since the men’s Olympic tournament only concerns players under 23, with three exceptions authorized per team. It is therefore difficult to believe that 100 years ago, football was the most popular sport at the Games.
Colombes, Yves-du-Manoir stadium, June 9, 1924. 40,000 spectators crowd into the stands to see the great Uruguay win the final of the Olympic football tournament against Switzerland. The Olympics have not yet officially started, but the football competition is taking place several weeks in advance. “Many say the height of the 1924 Games was before the opening ceremony, because football draws crowds, while athletics and the opening and closing ceremonies will not be sold out like the football final.”explains Michaël Delépine, sports historian.
First appearing at the 1900 Olympic Games, the football tournament was contested by national teams from 1908. The popularity of the round ball then grew after the First World War. “In the 1920s, the football tournament brought in a third or more of the Olympic revenue, explains Paul Dietschy, sports historian. In the archives of FIFA and the IOC [Comité international olympique]we realize that the organizers needed football to balance the books. There was talk of excluding it in 1928 because it was viewed with suspicion by the IOC leaders for its hidden professionalism, but the Dutch organizers asked to keep it because they needed it for ticket sales.”
The tipping point came in 1930, with the creation of the World Cup, which replaced the Olympic Games as the biggest tournament in world football. “Originally, the leaders of FIFA were quite happy to enter the Olympics, because they did not have the money to organize their own competition. But from the 1920s, the balance of power changed, football was booming and the leaders of FIFA saw that they could keep most of the revenue for themselves and were in favor of professionalism, while the IOC hunted down fake amateur footballers.”continues Paul Dietschy.
The World Cup then became the benchmark competition, but Uruguay kept four stars on its jersey, considering that the Olympic Games won in 1924 and 1928 were then equivalent to world championships, in addition to the two “real” World Cups won in 1930 and 1950. Faced with the competition of this new tournament, European nations therefore sent amateur footballers to the Olympic Games and the competition lost its value between 1948 and 1984. Eastern European countries then dominated the tournaments, since the communist regimes prevented their athletes from having professional status, even though they made a living from football.
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In the 1980s, the rivalry between FIFA and the IOC subsided. “Juan Antonio Samaranch, the IOC president, is now in favour of professionalism and, at the head of FIFA, Joao Havelange was a member of the IOC. The two men agree to ensure that football remains present, but not too much either, so as not to devalue the other competitions”explains Paul Dietschy. A new rule is then set: teams can now be made up of professionals, but on condition that they have never played in the World Cup.
The French “second” team is then the first to be crowned with these new regulations, one month after the victory of the Blues A at the Euro. “But it didn’t have any impact in France, it was just another medal, says Guy Lacombe, Olympic champion. While I had an Argentinian teammate in Toulouse, Alberto Tarantini, who told me that if Argentina were South American champion, then Olympic champion, it would have been a party for three months. It’s a cultural difference”.
Professional footballers are still happy to be able to claim the Olympic Games, to live the life of an athlete among others for a few weeks. “In 1996, we did a preparation in the United States with all the other French athletes, it was incredible in terms of sharingremembers former international Olivier Dacourt. There are a lot of disciplines that we didn’t know much about, and when we saw all the work, the concessions, the sacrifices to earn very little money… That’s when we realize that the majority of athletes really love their sport above all else.”
To live this Olympic dream, some big names or promising talents have participated in the Olympic Games since the 2000s, such as Samuel Eto’o, Lionel Messi or Neymar. But the selections are now limited to players under 23, with the right to three exceptions since 1996, while the women’s football tournament, which also appeared in Atlanta, does not impose any age conditions and allows the best players in the world to take part.
“Fifa wants to keep the men’s tournament, because it is necessary to remain in the Olympic arena, without competing with world or continental competitions. On the other hand, the women’s calendar is staggered, with competitions in odd years, so the Olympics serve to promote women’s football. There is better global exposure than during the World Cup.”
Paul Dietschy, sports historianto franceinfo: sport
For Paris 2024, tickets remain on sale for the football events. “The stadiums will not necessarily be full, but it remains a more accessible way to attend the Olympic spectacle, because it is cheaper and often distributed across the country”adds the historian. And so much the worse for the lack of stars, since only Spain obliges its clubs to release their players called up by the Spanish coach for the Olympics.