With the days fast approaching until the start of Euro 2024 and this summer's Copa America, the preliminary squad for next month's Olympic men's football competition in Paris has already been announced, but it comes with its own challenges.
“I haven't had so many rejections since I was in college,” France Olympic football coach Thierry Henry said when asked about the selection process for the 25-man preliminary squad. One notable player missing from the squad is Kylian Mbappe, Real Madrid's new superstar and the most famous French athlete on the planet, who has previously made no secret of his ambition to represent his country on the Olympic stage.
But he is not the only big name absent, with Chelsea blocking Enzo Fernandez and Mykhailo Mudric from playing for Argentina and Ukraine respectively, and other clubs are likely to follow suit before participating nations submit their final squads on July 3.
These tensions are rising to varying degrees as the men's Olympic soccer tournament approaches, but it's worth exploring exactly why.
Why are some clubs withdrawing their players from the Olympics?
The short answer is, they can. Because the Olympics take place outside the official international football calendar, FIFA rules mean that clubs are not obligated to release players for the tournament. That's not the case for the Euros or the Copa America, however.
The longer answer is that clubs have their own interests in mind, which are best served by not exposing their most valuable players to the extra burden of non-compulsory competitions. The concerns are particularly acute regarding players such as Mbappe, Fernández and Mudrik, who will represent their countries at Euro 2024 and the Copa America, where taking part in the Olympics would mean playing all summer with little rest.
France coach Thierry Henry said he had received a lot of rejections (AFP via Getty Images)
Barcelona star Pedri's summer of 2021 is often cited as a cautionary tale, coming at the end of a brilliant breakthrough season at Camp Nou that saw him represent Spain at the postponed Euro 2020 and Olympic men's football tournament and make 68 appearances for club and country in his first season as a top-flight player.
Hamstring injuries have plagued his 2021-22 season, and while there is no directly provable causal link, it is widely interpreted in football circles that Pedri's physical problems are in part due to playing too many games with too little opportunity to recover.
The timing of the Olympic football tournament is not conducive to ensuring full player participation. The tournament is usually held in late July or early August (this summer's tournament began on July 24 and ended on August 9), which overlaps directly with clubs' pre-season schedules, meaning players complete the majority of their physical training during this period. The rest period following the tournament also means players are unavailable at the start of their clubs' campaigns.
Despite this, most clubs are taking a case-by-case approach when deciding whether to allow their players to take part in the Olympics, rather than refusing call-ups outright.
Will there be problems between player and club?
It all depends on the athlete, particularly how passionate he is about the prospect of competing for an Olympic medal.
In most cases, players and clubs are able to come to an agreement before a call-up is approved or rejected and such situations rarely escalate into public disputes, but there are times when a delicate matter needs to be handled, especially if the player in question is a highly prized superstar talent.
Lionel Messi was barred from playing for Argentina at the 2008 Olympics, but Pep Guardiola, who was promoted to Barcelona's first-team manager, stepped in and led Messi to a gold medal in Beijing. Barcelona then struck a deal with the Brazilian Football Confederation in 2016 to keep Neymar out of that summer's Copa America Centenario, allowing him to lead Brazil's Olympic-winning success at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro tournament.
Messi winning gold at the 2008 Olympics (Jewel Samad/AFP via Getty Images)
Mbappe has spoken many times about the possibility of leading France to gold at this summer's Olympics in Paris, but comments to French television station France 2 in January suggested he has no intention of making it an issue with his new club, Real Madrid. “Everyone knows I want to play in the Olympics, but if the club doesn't want that, I understand because I'm mature enough to understand both sides,” he said.
Not everyone thinks so. Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who has already played for Argentina in the Copa America, claimed this week that he would be prepared to “fight” with the club to be allowed to be in Javier Mascherano's squad for the Olympic football tournament.
Why aren't the Olympics considered soccer's pinnacle?
The answer requires a quick history lesson: Soccer has been the men's sport at every Summer Olympic Games except for 1896 and 1932, but it wasn't until the 1984 Los Angeles Games that professional players were allowed to participate.
At the time, FIFA had established the World Cup as the greatest football festival on the planet and did not want the Olympic football tournament to become a strong rival. Initially, UEFA and COMNEBOL member countries could only select professional footballers who had never played in a World Cup.
The 1990s saw changes to the selection rules that continue to this day: teams for the men's tournament are made up of players aged 23 and under, with a maximum of three over-age players. As a result, the men's tournament continues to occupy a strange place in football: not entirely devoid of prestige and individual stardom, but essentially a glorified youth tournament.
The women's Olympic soccer tournament has no such age restrictions and is widely considered second only to the Women's World Cup in importance.
Do big star athletes regularly compete in the Olympics?
Since the age limit was introduced in 1992, there has been no shortage of star names, with Messi and Neymar topping the list of world-famous players to have won Olympic gold medals, alongside Angel Di Maria, Carlos Tevez, Samuel Eto'o, Jay-Jay Okocha and Guardiola.
Other famous male players who have had to settle for silver or bronze medals in previous Olympic Games include Thiago Silva, Ronaldinho, Andrea Pirlo, Xavi, Carles Puyol, Ivan Zamorano, Javier Zanetti, Ronaldo Nazario, Rivaldo and Roberto Carlos.
A fully-fledged senior international competition, the Women's Olympic Football Tournament has provided a global stage for most of the sport's greats since its introduction in 1996. The list of gold medal-winning athletes includes Christine Sinclair, Alexandra Popp, Carli Lloyd, Abby Wambach, Kristin Lilly, Hege Riise and Mia Hamm.
How does it compare to other team sports?
The closest equivalent to soccer in the Olympic sense is basketball, which does not have the same participation policy as soccer and no age limit for selection.
Since the U.S. “Dream Team” marked NBA players' spectacular Olympic debut in 1992, the men's basketball tournament has featured players from the world's best leagues and is generally more highly regarded than the FIBA World Cup.
The 12-man U.S. men's basketball team for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games features veteran superstars such as LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, former NBA MVP Joel Embiid and NBA finalist Jayson Tatum, and is said to be the strongest lineup since the Dream Team.
The “Dream Team” that won the Olympic gold medal in basketball in 1992 (AP Photo/John Gaps)
Also competing for the gold medal are Team Serbia, led by three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic; Team Canada, led by All-NBA First Team guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander; and Team France, featuring NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert and NBA Rookie of the Year Victor Ouenbanyama.
That means many of the best players will flock to Paris with little concern about how their attendance will impact the 2024-25 NBA season, which begins in October.
Who are the big names still competing in the tournament in France?
With most of the participating countries yet to announce their preliminary rosters, this Olympic men's football tournament is set to be the least star-studded in recent memory.
The two hottest names for France in Mbappe's absence are Paris Saint-Germain's Warren Zaire-Emery and Bradley Barkoula, both of whom are included in Didier Deschamps' 26-man squad for Euro 2024. Crystal Palace star Michael Oliseh's availability for the Olympics may depend on whether he becomes a target for a big-money transfer this summer.
Manchester City have allowed Julian Alvarez to play in Paris despite his expected involvement with Argentina in the Copa America, but it would be a surprise if the 37-year-old Messi were to play both matches as well.
If Egypt wants to select Mohamed Salah, he will need the approval of Liverpool and new manager Arne Slott. If Barcelona decide to avoid a repeat of the Pedri situation in 2021 and field Lamine Yamal, Pau Kbalchi and Gavi, and then Pedri again, Spain's strength could be significantly reduced.
With several yet-to-be-announced selections for players aged 23 and over potentially adding more stars, the Olympic men's soccer tournament looks set to be one in which up-and-coming talent needs to be unearthed.
(Top photo: Getty Images)
