Letter reply from DCMS:
Ministerial Support Team
4th Floor
100 Parliament Street
London SW1A 2BQ
T: 020 7211 6000
enquiries@culture.gov.uk
Ms Lindsay England
20 January 2016
Dear Ms England,Thank you for your letter of 23 August to the
Minister of Sport, Tracey Crouch MP regarding your concern about Team GB representing a women’s football team for the Rio Olympics in 2016
I am replying as a member of the Ministerial Support Team.
Firstly, I would like to apologise for the unacceptable delay in
replying to you. The Department regards replying to correspondence in a
timely, courteous and accurate manner as a very high priority and I very much regret that in this instance we have fallen far short
.
Historically, we have not competed as TeamGB at the Olympics because it
has not been possible to get all four of the Home Nations Football
Associations (FA) to agree to compete together in the Olympics when they compete separately in all other aspects of
international football. The Home Nations have been concerned that in
competing together at the Olympics, they would set a precedent where
FIFA could then require them to compete together across international football.For London 2012, a one off arrangement was put in
place, whereby all four Home Nations FAs agreed to compete as TeamGB,
given we were hosting the Games. This was a one off agreement, in order
to protect the ‘normal’ position, wherethe Home Nations competed
separately in all other events.
However, there is nothing to technically
prevent a similar arrangement being reached, provided that
sufficient assurances could be sought to protect the understandable
concern of the Home Nations that they might be prevented from competing
separately in non-Olympic events.Although the English FA had originally
indicated to the British Olympic Association that it would be willing to
consider the participation of a GB team in both the men’s and women’s
competition at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, after further discussions
with the Home Nation Football Associations and FIFA, the FA Board decided not to pursue this further.As such, UEFA, FIFA and the International
Olympic Committee were formally notified that a GB team would not seek
to qualify/participate for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.Department for
Culture, Media & Sport However, there is a possibility of FIFA
considering a late entry providing the Home Nations were all in
agreement.
We know from previous attempts that trying to get this sort
of agreement is very challenging, particularly if there is only a short
amount of time to
secure their collective approval. It is the
responsibility of the English FA to seek agreement with the other Home
Nation bodies. FIFA does not look favourably on Government interference
in sport. Additionally, our standing within FIFA is such that a request
for a late entry may not be looked on favourably. This suggests that
getting an agreement for Rio 2016 will be very unlikely indeed.At the
same time itis important that we respect the wishes of the home nations
in this matter. They are rightly proud of their history and the
independent statuses they enjoy in world football.
If it is not possible, to get agreement for a unified GB football team at Rio,
we will press for an agreement to be put in place that would allow the
team to compete in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.Unfortunately,Government
Ministers do not sign petitions so I'm afraid the Minister for Sport,
Tracey Crouch MP will not be able to support your request on this
occasion.I hope this information is helpful to you
.
Yours sincerely,
Syed Ali
Ministerial Support Team
