Why don’t Team GB have a football team at the Paris 2024 Olympics?

AFTER their Euro heartbreak football at the Olympics could have given England the chance to redeem themselves.

But Team GB will not be taking part – and have not fielded a squad in the men’s event since London 2012.

Team GB will not have a football team at the Olympics this summer

European qualification for the men’s tournament this summer came from the 2023 UEFA U21 Euros – which England won.

But ongoing tension meant the victory did not secure Team GB’s Olympic spot as Israel and Ukraine instead qualified alongside runners-up Spain.

And the women will also be a no-show in France this summer.

Here, SunSports rundown on why Team GB doesn’t have a men’s or women’s team…

Why do Team GB not have a men’s football team?

The Olympics is overseen by the International Olympic Committee, unlike the FIFA-governed World Cup and the European Championship.

In FIFA and UEFA competitions, each UK nation (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland) has its own football association and competes separately.

However, in the IOC the home nations are united under the name Great Britain, collectively earning medals.

British teams had been successful in the early 20th-century Olympic football events winning gold unofficially at Paris 1900, officially at London 1908, and retaining their title at Stockholm 1912.

Over time Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland feared that their independence in FIFA and UEFA tournaments would be jeopardised by competing as a single entity in the Olympics.

As a result, Team GB ceased participating in Olympic men’s football in the 1970s with a brief exception for the London 2012 Games.

Hosting the games on home soil led to an agreement for a squad comprising 13 English and 5 Welsh players.

There were no Scottish or Northern Irish representatives, and Team GB was eventually eliminated on penalties by South Korea in the quarter-finals.

No similar agreement has been reached for the subsequent three Olympic Games, so England’s victory in last summer’s U21 Euros didn’t secure them a spot in Paris.

Why do Team GB not have a women’s football team?

Team GB’s women’s squad also competed at London 2012 and unlike the men’s team has managed to qualify for subsequent Games.

Although no agreement was reached for Brazil 2016 the women’s team was reformed for Tokyo 2020.

In both editions, they were eliminated in the quarter-finals.

The current agreement among the home nations allows the highest-ranking women’s team among the four to attempt to secure one of the three European spots available for Team GB.

For the 2024 Olympics, England was given the honour of representing Team GB. However, the Lionesses fell short, finishing second in their Nations League group.

Despite a 6-0 victory over Scotland in their final group match, it wasn’t enough to secure a spot at the Games