Why doesnt GBR have a football team?

Question

Hey, I looked at the olympics 2008 website and I couldnt find a British Team in both Football and Basketball I wonder why?

Does anyone know?

Answer 1

gumbo is right. But seriously Olympic football (soccer) is not really that important to Brits. The world cup and the Euros are much more important.

Answer 2

It is believed that by putting forward a UK team for the Olympics, the individual countries of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland would be forced to participate as Great Britain in all football events (such as the World Cup and European Championships). The qualifying tournament for the Olympic football competition is the UEFA European Under-21 competition, which the individual nations participate in, but not as Great Britain.

Further details can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_King...