Rio 2016 Olympics

Team GB require full backing from FIFA to take part in 2016 Olympic Games

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 20 March 2015

FIFA vice president Jim Boyce reveals that Team GB will not be allowed to participate at the 2016 Olympics unless all the home nations come to an agreement to take part.

Great Britain's men's and women's football sides will not be allowed to participate in next year's Olympic Games without the full backing of FIFA.

Team GB reformed to take part in the tournament at London 2012, with both teams reaching the quarter-final stage before being eliminated.

At the time it was thought to be a one-off participation to mark the Games taking place on home soil, with the Welsh and Scottish Football Associations heavily opposed to the idea.

However, the English FA want to enter teams for Rio 2016, which sparked a debate at FIFA's executive committee meeting in Zurich on Thursday afternoon.

Speaking to BBC Sport, Jim Boyce, the vice-president of football's world governing body, said: "FIFA has the final say on whether a football team can be entered for the Olympic Games."

That is likely to mean that the green light will not be given unless all the home nations come to an agreement.

When plans first surfaced earlier this year for Team GB to take part in the Olympics once more, FAW president Trefor Lloyd Hughes claimed that he was "livid" with the English FA, while the SFA also hit out at their English counterparts.

It is feared that by putting forward a regular British football side, the independence of each associate nation will become compromised.