[Leopejo]

Title says it all.

Everybody could be recalled from Beijing by their clubs right now, regardless of age.

Hopefully clubs will show some compassion (?), or some teams could be left with less than 11 players.

All because FIFA forgot to include the Olympic Games in their international calendar.

[tomwilhelm]

In the future, please provide a link for stories like this.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...&refer=germany

Let's keep the discussion civil, folks. Thanks!

[Leopejo]

Originally Posted by tomwilhelm

In the future, please provide a link for stories like this.

Sorry, I didn't have an English language link and was too upset by the news to look for one...

[Jeddy Rasp]

Originally Posted by Leopejo

Sorry, I didn't have an English language link and was too upset by the news to look for one...

Why ? most european nations couldn't give a toss about the Olympic soccer tournament.

[Andrés_]

Clearly, FIFA and IOC need to make clear important details about olympic football once this one is over.

[tomwilhelm]

Originally Posted by Andrés_

Clearly, FIFA and IOC need to make clear important details about olympic football once this one is over.

Understatement of the Year Award.

Seriously, how do you drop the ball on something like this?

[City Dave]

Well, this is a good decision for the US, can only help us. Does suck a bit for nearly everyone else though.

[Andrés_]

Originally Posted by tomwilhelm

Understatement of the Year Award.

Seriously, how do you drop the ball on something like this?

Eh?

[tomwilhelm]

Originally Posted by Andrés_

Eh?

I was saying: How can FIFA have just "missed" addressing the status of the Olympics in the FIFA calendar? That's like forgetting to mention that clubs have to release their players for the U-19 World Cup. If FIFA didn't intend for the Olympics to be treated like a friendly, they should have stated so, long ago...

[Leopejo]

Originally Posted by tomwilhelm

I was saying: How can FIFA have just "missed" addressing the status of the Olympics in the FIFA calendar? That's like forgetting to mention that clubs have to release their players for the U-19 World Cup. If FIFA didn't intend for the Olympics to be treated like a friendly, they should have stated so, long ago...

Maybe it wasn't seen as an issue a few Olympic games back, when the U-23 plus 3 overage rule was introduced? After all, clubs have achieved so much power in the last decade(s).

And then, every four years, someone in the FIFA offices checked "what did we do four years ago? Not on the calendar? Let it be the same this time".

Probably nobody just realized the importance of FIFA calendar for the issue of sending players. Only three clubs, only this year, realized this flaw.