Rules of the Olympics??!? Read discription.?

Question

So I was watching the soccer games and noticed that it wasn't the usual people who compete for the world series there were nearly no pros yet brazil had ronaldinho and rena and stuff so is there some kind of rule about the allowing pro thing.

Answer 1

The Olympics are seeking to avoid direct competition with World Cup and aim for a younger feel to the teams. Also, clubs are more likely to let go of some of the younger players than their expensive stars (note that Marseilles refused to let 2 Serbian players leave the country to go to Beijing).

Most countries already have an U21 team which plays competitively. The Olympics went for a modified U23 team with 3 players allowed who were over 23. Being on one national team doesn’t preclude a player from being on other national teams of different age categories, but few players can handle the rigors of playing for both simultaneously (note that most countries are starting WC 2010 qualifying now).

The official Beijing Olympics site here has all the rules and such for the games: http://en.beijing2008.cn/sports/football...

Answer 2

It is the clubs holding back their good players. The same thing happened in Athens with Australian soccer players who were not allowed to play for their country because of their contracts with some European clubs. I guess they value money more than the sport itself.