Why do Team GB not have a football team in the 2024 Paris Olympics? Nation absent from Games due to unique rule
Football at the Olympics could have offered a chance for England fans to quickly get over their Euro heartbreak, but Team GB will not be taking part.
Great Britain have not fielded a side in the men's football event since London 2012 while the women will also be a no-show in France.
All you need to know about the football at Paris Olympics
European qualification for the men's tournament this summer came from the 2023 UEFA Under-21 Euros, which England won.
But an ongoing dispute meant lifting the silverware didn't book Team GB's Olympic spot, with Israel and Ukraine instead qualifying alongside runners-up Spain.
Here, talkSPORT.com breaks down why Team GB doesn't have a men's or women's team in Paris...
Why do Team GB not have a men's football team?
Unlike the FIFA-governed World Cup and the European Championship, the Olympics are overseen by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
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In FIFA/UEFA competitions, each representative of the UK (England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland) have their own FA and thus competes individually.
In the IOC, however, the home nations are registered as one entity under the name Great Britain and rack up medals as such.
British teams regularly featured, and were successful, in the Olympic football events in the early 20th century.
Great Britain claimed gold unofficially at Paris 1900, before officially at London 1908 and then retaining their title at Stockholm 1912.
However, over time, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland allayed fears their independence in FIFA/UEFA tournaments would be risked if they continued competing as a single entity in the Olympics.
Team GB's participation in Olympic men's football was then stopped in the 1970s, with only a brief exception for London 2012 made since.
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The Games being held on home soil eventually led to an agreement to compete in a squad that contained 13 English and 5 Welsh players.
There were no Scottish or Northern Irish representatives as Team GB eventually crashed out on penalties to South Korea in the quarter-finals.
A similar agreement has not been made for any of the three Olympic Games since, meaning England's win in last summer's Under-21 Euros didn't see them book a plane to Paris.
Why do Team GB not have a women's football team?
Team GB's women's squad also competed at London 2012 but, unlike the men, they have been able to qualify for the Games since.
While no agreement between the home nations was reached for Brazil 2016, the women's team was reborn for Tokyo 2020.
In both editions though, they suffered quarter-final exits.
The agreement between the home nations sees the highest-ranking women's team between the four attempts to claim one of the three European spots available that would be handed to Team GB.
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For the 2024 Olympics, that honour fell to England but the Lionesses fell short having only finished second in their Nations League group.
They beat Scotland 6-0 in their last group game but it still wasn't enough to book their place at the Games.
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