Cet Homme Charmant Posted December 3, 2023 Share Posted December 3, 2023 The team that finishes top of Scotland's Woman's Nation league group will automatically qualify for next year's Olympics. Given that the 'Lionesses' are the designated home nations team for Team GB Olympic qualification, it raises an interesting sporting integrity question for the remaining games in the Woman's Nations League. If England beat Scotland in their final game, and the Netherlands fail to beat Belgium, they will finish top of the group and thereby also secure a place for Team GB in the Olympics. Now, given that some of Scotland's best players such as Erin Cuthbert could well be included in such a Team GB squad, will they perhaps not give 100% against England, knowing that a draw or a win for Scotland would deprive them of the chance of playing in the Olympics? Alternatively, if those players are left out of the team to avoid such conflict of interests, that in itself would of course weaken the team and thereby also be of an advantage to England/Team GB. I'm sure the Belgian and Dutch football and Olympic associations are wondering the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capitanus Posted December 3, 2023 Share Posted December 3, 2023 Women's football has gone too far and it gets far too much coverage nowadays. I mean, does anyone other than CHC actually give a toss about this subject? Discuss. *insert signature here* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cet Homme Charmant Posted December 3, 2023 Author Share Posted December 3, 2023 I actually attended my first ever woman's game the other night, but only because it was Scotland and it was taking place just down the road. It wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible either, some of the players were actually quite technically proficient, but it's obviously still nowhere near the level of the man's game and never will be. It was more a question about conflict of interest and sporting integrity, rather than a passionate advocacy of the woman's game per se. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capitanus Posted December 3, 2023 Share Posted December 3, 2023 Believe it or not, i'm not against the idea of Womens Football, or women playing football. Indeed there will be some good female players out there. However the coverage it is getting nowadays is huge, in fact it has almost been given parity with the mens game overnight to the extent that if you are watching SkySports News you are having to do a double-take regularly as you'd see fixtures/results eg. Chelsea vs. Arsenal, they are not saying Chelsea Women vs. Arsenal Women, or similar, which would be a suitable prompt for the disinterested to ignore in a similar way to cricket or whatever. The coverage the womens game is getting nowadays has gone from next-to-nothing to saturation in such a short space of time, and even in Scotland where the obstacle for giving football coverage to the lower leagues was always financial, they have found an absolute fortune to cover the womens game up here when the average crowds are not much more than that of a juniors game. I'd imagine their viewing figures would be likewise too. *insert signature here* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capitanus Posted December 6, 2023 Share Posted December 6, 2023 On 12/3/2023 at 7:49 AM, Cet Homme Charmant said: The team that finishes top of Scotland's Woman's Nation league group will automatically qualify for next year's Olympics. Given that the 'Lionesses' are the designated home nations team for Team GB Olympic qualification, it raises an interesting sporting integrity question for the remaining games in the Woman's Nations League. If England beat Scotland in their final game, and the Netherlands fail to beat Belgium, they will finish top of the group and thereby also secure a place for Team GB in the Olympics. Now, given that some of Scotland's best players such as Erin Cuthbert could well be included in such a Team GB squad, will they perhaps not give 100% against England, knowing that a draw or a win for Scotland would deprive them of the chance of playing in the Olympics? Alternatively, if those players are left out of the team to avoid such conflict of interests, that in itself would of course weaken the team and thereby also be of an advantage to England/Team GB. I'm sure the Belgian and Dutch football and Olympic associations are wondering the same thing. Well, whatever problem that was which you were trying to highlight and nobody else seemed to care about all seems academic now. What a wee shame. *insert signature here* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cet Homme Charmant Posted December 6, 2023 Author Share Posted December 6, 2023 It was indeed academic in the end, but only because the Netherlands scored 2 goals in injury time. If they hadn't, I think it would have raised some serious suspicions in the Netherlands and elsewhere about the 0-6 scoreline at Hampden. I've got no idea if these suspicions would have been valid or not, but it would certainly have raised some doubts, for sure. I'm pretty sure that following this debacle, UEFA and the IOC will ensure that such potential questions about sporting integrity will not happen again in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capitanus Posted December 6, 2023 Share Posted December 6, 2023 8 minutes ago, Cet Homme Charmant said: It was indeed academic in the end, but only because the Netherlands scored 2 goals in injury time. If they hadn't, I think it would have raised some serious suspicions in the Netherlands and elsewhere about the 0-6 scoreline at Hampden. I've got no idea if these suspicions would have been valid or not, but it would certainly have raised some doubts, for sure. I'm pretty sure that following this debacle, UEFA and the IOC will ensure that such potential questions about sporting integrity will not happen again in the future. The bit in bold. Exactly my point. I'm of the opinion that Football & the Olympics dont mix. The debacle that was Team GB in the 2012 olympics and how a crap manager like Stuart Pearce should be given the task of selecting a team to 'represent' Great Britain should be a lesson learnt. The anomaly of three nations (not including Wales, as they are merely a Principality of England) and no unified team should be reason enough for all these nations to sit out Olympic related football competitions. *insert signature here* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cet Homme Charmant Posted December 6, 2023 Author Share Posted December 6, 2023 6 hours ago, capitanus said: The bit in bold. Exactly my point. I'm of the opinion that Football & the Olympics dont mix. The debacle that was Team GB in the 2012 olympics and how a crap manager like Stuart Pearce should be given the task of selecting a team to 'represent' Great Britain should be a lesson learnt. The anomaly of three nations (not including Wales, as they are merely a Principality of England) and no unified team should be reason enough for all these nations to sit out Olympic related football competitions. Totally agree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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