FAW cools talk of Team GB football at 2028 Olympics

Current Wales boss Craig Bellamy captained Team GB at the 2012 Olympics, as did Ryan Giggs

The Football Association of Wales (FAW) has “never discussed” the possibility of Great Britain entering a men’s football team for the 2028 Olympics, says chief executive Noel Mooney.

The British Olympic Association (BOA) said earlier this month it wanted to unite England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in fielding a first Team GB men's side since London 2012.

That squad featured five Welshmen, including Wales’ current manager Craig Bellamy and captain Aaron Ramsey.

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have historically been against a unified team.

“We've not heard anything directly ourselves about this Team GB concept and we've never discussed it here,” Mooney told BBC Sport Wales.

“We're a football nation. We're going to tournaments now regularly. We expect to go to tournaments and our focus is very much here on Wales playing at tournaments. That's our focus.

“I've heard nothing about it except what I've heard in the media. We've not discussed it here but, if there is a discussion, our stance very much is that we focus on our national team playing out in the world.”

The Team GB women's squad are eligible for qualification but did not qualify for Paris 2024.

In men’s football, Great Britain had been Olympic regulars until 1960 and, having failed to qualify for the next three Games, they decided not to enter a team.

There was then resistance from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, who felt their independence in Fifa and Uefa competitions could be jeopardised if they competed as a single entity at the Olympics.

They reached a compromise for the 2012 Games that they would not stand in the way of any players selected for Team GB under the condition it would be a one-off, but the BOA’s comments have rekindled the controversial debate.

Speaking after the Paris Olympics earlier this month, BOA chief executive Andy Anson said a Team GB men's side at the Los Angeles Games in four years would be "brilliant for football".

A squad featuring 13 English and five Welsh players – with Joe Allen, Neil Taylor and Ryan Giggs the other Welshmen involved – competed at the London Olympics in 2012, despite the FAW opposing the plans seven years earlier.

At that point, Wales had not played at a major tournament since the 1958 World Cup but they have subsequently qualified for two European Championships and a World Cup.

When then England manager Sam Allardyce raised the prospect of doing it again in 2016, his Wales counterpart at the time Chris Coleman dismissed the idea.

On that occasion, England's Football Association had put forward the idea of sending Great Britain teams to the Olympics, but Fifa said it would need the agreement of the ruling bodies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, who were against it.

In addition to the nations, the BOA's plans to field a Team GB men's side at the 2028 Olympics could also face opposition from clubs, who may not be keen to release their players in a congested summer period.

The Los Angeles Games will take place from 14-30 July, just days after the Euro 2028 final at Wembley and a few weeks before the start of the new league season.