Tartan Army Blog

No Team GB - FANS GROUPS OPPOSE GB OLYMPIC TEAM

JOINT STATEMENT FROM:

The Association of Tartan Army clubs (ATAC - Scotland)
Football Supporters Federation (FSF - England)
Football Supporters Federation Cymru (FSF - Wales) and
Amalgamation of Official NI Fans Clubs (AONISC - Northern Ireland)

Crude Coe welcomed in Edinburgh despite recent outburst

The No Team GB campaign welcome Lord Sebastian Coe to Edinburgh today despite his alleged offensive comments directed towards the nations of Scotland and Wales that were reported in “The London Paper” dated 1 October 2008.

In response to a question about the opposition towards a British Olympic joint football team from the Welsh and Scottish FAs, Lord Coe allegedly replied ” F*** them!”

This is a clear indication of the 2012 British Olympic Association steamrollering ahead with a joint team despite there being no appetite from the supporters of the four home nations. Supporters groups from each nation have come together under the www.NoTeamGB.com umbrella to campaign against the idea which seriously threatens the continued existence of the four home nations competing on the international stage in their own right.

The FSF (England), ATAC (Scotland), FSF Cymru (Wales) and AONISC (Northern Ireland) fans groups have been against this suggestion from the outset. This opposition is supported by the fact that Sepp Blatter (FIFA), David Taylor (UEFA) and various other football dignatories have previously stated that a team playing under the GB flag will seriously undermine the right of the four home countries to play on the international football scene in their own right.

No Team GB spokesman Simon Johnston said “Lord Coe is welcome in Edinburgh to promote the 2012 Olympics with the tournaments sponsors. His remit is to make sure that the tournament raises as much cash as is possible and to ensure its success. This success should not be at the expense of the existence of our home nations in world football. Lord Coe has to realise that to players, participation in the Olympics compared to the World Cup is akin to Red Rum or Desert Orchid taking part in a donkey derby rather than the Grand National”

Contact Simon Johnston (07967 102588) or Tam Ferry (07984 510033)

No Medals For This TeamGB

Scotland and Northern Ireland fans joined in their praise of the Olympians in Beijing ahead of their friendly match at Hampden, but quickly condemned the repeated attempts by Lords Moynihan & Coe to gain support for a TeamGB football team to participate in the London 2012 Olympics.

At a fans get together ahead of the Hampden clash, they united in voicing their concerns.

Tam Ferry of the Association of Tartan Army Clubs (ATAC) said “ The official fans groups of Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales are firmly against the false creation of a British football team, it threatens the independent position of our national game – we wish the Olympians well, but this is one medal we can do without”.

ATAC’s position is supported by Gordon Smith, Chief Executive of the Scottish Football Association who has previously advised the British Olympic Committee that Scotland have no interest in supporting this team.

Thousands of Northern Ireland fans are arriving in Glasgow for the match with Scotland. Gary McAllister of the Amalgamation of Official NI Supporters Clubs said, “The vast majority of Northern Ireland fans are totally opposed to a ‘Team GB’ football team competing in the 2012 games.

We are deeply concerned that the four British Associations’ right to compete separately in international competition could be undermined by the participation of a unified UK team in the Olympic tournament and we feel that, without proper guarantees, this is a risk which cannot be taken,

We look forward to continuing to highlight our concerns alongside our friends from Scotland, England and Wales. The stakes are simply too high to allow this issue to go unchallenged.””

FIFA supremo Sepp Blatter stated in March this year that entering a TeamGB football team will “….put into question all the privileges that the British associations have”.

ENDS