SUMMARY
- Soccer is one of the most prestigious events at the Olympics.
- Thierry Henry has criticized Real Madrid for not allowing players to participate in the Olympics.
The Paris Olympics 2024 is perhaps the biggest summer event of the year. The French capital will host the best athletes on this planet for a month-long sporting extravaganza. Amongst the other important events, fans would also be eager to watch the soccer events at the Olympics. With one of the biggest honors in the world, many teams will be hoping to win the gold medal at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
🗣️ Thierry Henry on Real Madrid refusing to release players for Olympics:
“I imagined it. Clubs abroad do not have the same situation as us in France. French clubs will be there to help, but for clubs abroad it is normal that they refuse. I never stop at the first no. We will… pic.twitter.com/3FC8dx7XwU
— Football Talk (@FootballTalkHQ) March 20, 2024
However, it seems that not all clubs are equally happy about the Olympics in Paris. Reports from Spain have confirmed that Real Madrid will not allow any of its players to participate in the mega event. This has invited heavy criticism from a former FC Barcelona player who has urged the ‘Los Blancos’ to learn from the French clubs.
Thierry Henry slams Real Madrid for neglecting the Olympics
The French player has been quite vocal about the Spanish club’s indecent behavior. The French people were probably too eager to see some of the biggest talents at the Olympics. But Real Madrid’s autocratic decision will deprive the French of this opportunity. However, Thierry Henry also looked pretty confident when he said he knew something like this would happen.
He said, “I imagined it. Clubs abroad do not have the same situation as us in France.” The 46-year-old believes that the situation in France is completely different from that at Real Madrid. French clubs are, in fact, very eager to make the Olympics highly successful.
The U-21 coach of France understands why clubs from abroad are reluctant to send players for the Paris Olympics in 2024. The summer of 2024 will be a very hectic schedule, with important competitions like the Copa America and Euros looming. In such circumstances, clubs would not risk their players being overloaded with games.
🚨 CONFIRMED: Real Madrid will NOT allow any player to play the Olympics after the Euros/Copa America. They don’t want “a Pedri case” @marca #rmalive pic.twitter.com/kyVHw29SSz
— Madrid Zone (@theMadridZone) March 14, 2024
This might put physical strain on them and disrupt the teams’ pre-season plans, which would be in full swing when the Paris Olympics begin in late July. Real Madrid, therefore, is right in its place to not allow its players to go to the Olympics.
However, the former Arsenal forward is confident enough to arrive at a deal with the Spanish club. He said, “I never stop at the first no. We will see what we can do.” Thierry Henry will be leading the French team in the Olympics and will be hopeful for Real Madrid players like Aurelin Tchouameni and Eduardo Camavinga at his disposal. France would be hoping to win the gold medal at the Olympics in front of their home crowd and will be requiring the midfield duo.
However, this is not the first time a club has barred players from joining its national team in the Olympics. History is filled with such examples where the priorities of a club and its nation have come at odds for a player.
List of players barred by clubs from competing in the Olympics
1) Neymar (2020)
The Brazilian was barred by his club, Paris Saint-Germain, from participating in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The Olympics, however, had to be postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Selecao were eager to take Neymar Jr. to Tokyo for the Olympics, but the French club was not at all open to the Brazilian being overloaded with matchdays anymore.
The French club had denied the permission in 2020 when the postponement wasn’t announced. The Brazilian FA President at the time, Rogerio Caboclo, had even entered into negotiations with Paris Saint-Germain, but to no avail. PSG did not change its stance on Neymar, and the Brazilian was denied permission to defend its gold medal in Tokyo.
Even after the Olympics were postponed by a year, Neymar could not find a place in Brazil’s Olympic squad. It was like rubbing salt in the wounds of the Brazilian body, who had lost the Copa America 2021 final to Argentina only a month after Brazil’s squad for the Olympics was announced. Neymar would go on to watch the likes of Dani Alves and co. win back-to-back gold medals for Brazil when they defeated Spain 2-1 in the gold medal match.
2) Cristiano Ronaldo
Real Madrid had not allowed their all-time top scorer to participate in the Rio Olympics in 2016. The Portuguese were already slated to play in the Euros in France a month before the Olympics, and ‘Los Blancos’ did not want CR7 to get injured due to overplaying. Real Madrid had communicated its decision to the Portuguese U-21 coach, Rui Jorge, who confirmed the forward’s omission from the Portuguese squad.
He said, “We do not yet know exactly about the three players over 23, we will wait, but I don’t believe Cristiano Ronaldo will be there.” Along with Cristiano, James Rodriguez too faced a similar fate. He was bound to travel to the USA to play for Colombia at the Copa America 2016. (via ESPN)
The Olympics do not come under the jurisdiction of FIFA, and therefore, clubs can deny permission to a player. However, CR7 had already enjoyed the honor of representing his nation at the Olympics when he played in the 2004 Athens Olympics. The same, however, cannot be said about James Rodriguez.
3)Kylian Mbappe (2020)
Neymar wasn’t the only Paris Saint-Germain player who didn’t get to go to Tokyo. The French club also barred the French international Kylian Mbappe from joining the French camp for the Olympics in 2020. Kylian had expressed his desire to represent his nation at the mega-event, which he described as a ‘dream.’ However, he also agreed that PSG had the final say in the matter.
🚨 Kylian Mbappé will not force Real Madrid to allow him to participate in the Paris Olympic Games this summer. ❌⚪️👋
(Source: @lequipe ) pic.twitter.com/trP7Zi3lFr
— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) March 15, 2024
Paris Saint-Germain at last did not allow the 25-year-old to go to the Olympics. The French club had written a letter to the French FA asking them not to consider the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner for selection. The decision was very shocking considering Kylian Mbappe was part of the 80-man preliminary squad.
However, Kylian Mbappe might realize his dream of playing in the Olympics when his nation, France, holds the event in the summer of 2024.
4)Lionel Messi
In 2016, the Argentine had to go through a hectic schedule. The 36-year-old had played a long season for FC Barcelona, where the club reached the quarterfinals of the UCL 15/16 and won La Liga. Lionel Messi also took part in the 2016 Copa America with Argentina. It is clearly evident that participating in the 2016 Rio Olympics after such a busy season would have been very stressful for Messi’s body.
And that is what Tata Martino, the coach of the Argentine U-21 team, believed. He said ahead of the summer’s mega event (Bleacher Report), “Exposing Leo by using him in another competition after all the football he’s played would be overkill, in my opinion.”
Happy birthday to the Olympic champion Lionel Messi! 🎂⚽ Enjoy this look back at Messi’s highlights from Beijing 2008. 🥇🇦🇷 @Argentina @PrensaCOA @FIFAcom pic.twitter.com/YKfPNSGaQS
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) June 24, 2020
Although FC Barcelona did not make any official request to the Argentine FA to let Lionel Messi out of the Olympic squad, it can be concluded that club soccer really influenced Tata Martino’s decision. However, Messi might not have been too sad with the decision, as he had already won an Olympic gold medal in Beijing in 2008.
5)Antoine Griezmann
In 2024, the French soccer player declared that he would do everything in his power to play in the 2024 Paris Olympics. He said (via Eurosport), “I will have a discussion with the management [at Atleti], in due time, to find out if they will let me go.”
Antoine did not want to miss an opportunity to entertain his home crowd with his soccer prowess. The Frenchman had represented his nation at every other major tournament, like the Euros and the World Cup, apart from the Summer Olympics.
However, it looks like his club, Atletico Madrid, isn’t very excited about the prospect of seeing the 33-year-old in the Olympics. RMC Sports has reported that the Spanish club won’t be allowing Antoine Griezmann to miss the pre-season, where a new fitness coach will arrive at the club.
However, Thierry Henry is hoping to get the 2-time Ballon d’Or podium finisher along with Kylian Mbappe and Olivier Giroud to fill up the over-23 slots. This is a developing story, and we estimate that Grizou won’t be letting this opportunity go so easily.