TEAM GB are not entering a football team at the Paris Olympics.
They were represented in the women’s competition at Tokyo 2020 but the men have not been involved since London 2012.
That team 12 years ago featured plenty of famous faces.
A talented squad managed by Stuart Pearce crashed out in the quarter-finals after a defeat to South Korea on penalties.
Jack Butland started in goal with Steven Caulker and current BBC pundit Micah Richards at centre-back.
Ryan Bertrand took the left-back berth with Welshman Neil Taylor playing out of position on the opposite flank.
Joe Allen anchored the midfield with compatriot Aaron Ramsey and Tom Cleverley in front of him.
Scott Sinclair and Craig Bellamy were on the wings with Daniel Sturridge leading the line.
Ramsey scored to level the scores after South Korea took the lead but missed a chance to make it 2-1 from the spot.
GB threw on veteran Ryan Giggs along with Danny Rose and Craig Dawson but could not get a winner.
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Both teams scored their first five penalties but Sturridge had his effort saved and GB’s Olympic dream was over – perhaps forever in the men’s game.
London was seen as a rare chance to enter a team despite the nations competing separately.
But there will still be plenty of stars on display in Paris.
We have picked out six to watch, including current and former Prem stars.
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.
Nearly 15,000 residents – around 10,500 of which are athletes – will be cramming into the Olympic village between July 26 and August 11.
To ensure the athletes feel at home, a number of provisions have been made by organisers.
One of these is the stocking of some 300,000 condoms, in theory enough for around two every day during the run of the Games.
A number of Olympic athletes have opened the door on their steamy lives behind-the-scenes when in camp, including huge sex orgies and parties.
London 2012 had claimed the title of “the raunchiest Games ever”, but the 150,000 condoms ordered paled in comparison to the 450,000 ordered for the Rio Games four years later.
Condoms have been laid on by organisers at every game since Seoul 1988, when it they were used to spread awareness of HIV and AIDS.
Even with an intimacy ban at Tokyo 2020 due to Covid-19, some 150,000 johnnies were handed out.
Read the full story here.
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.
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.
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