Explanation: Why are Scotland and England considered two different football nations, apart from the Olympics?

Both Scotland and England are ranked in the Dutch women’s football group. Great Britain will participate in the Olympic Games. how?

picture via Europeana/Estonian Sports and Olympic Museum

There is a serious flaw in the Women’s Football Nations League kits. England and Scotland are grouped together, along with the Netherlands and Belgium. The ultimate goal is a place in the Olympic Games, contested by England and Scotland no It can be placed separately, because a team is sent from Great Britain for this purpose. In the IOC, England and Scotland do not form their own teams, as they do in FIFA.

In the last match, Scotland play against England, who therefore have an interest in losing as much as possible. England would then win the group on goal difference, meaning they still have a chance of reaching the Games like Great Britain. It is an opportunity for Scottish footballers to participate with the British national team. The Netherlands is the biggest loser, provided that it first wins over Belgium, which is of course not certain.

FIFA and IOC rules therefore stand in each other’s way to the greatest extent. The big question is alone Why Scotland and England are two separate football nations. After all, neither Friesland nor Limburg are independently affiliated with FIFA. This strange situation is the solution to a long-standing football problem.

Major nations

FIFA was founded on May 21, 1904 at the initiative of France, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. However, in the British Isles there was no interest in joining an international football organisation, which seriously undermined FIFA’s credibility. After all, football originated there. It’s as if the Netherlands wants nothing to do with the International Korfball Federation.

In fact, Wales, England, Scotland and Ireland are so important to the origins of modern football that they represent Major nations Called. They played matches against each other as early as the 19th century, long before FIFA existed. The oldest official international match was between England and Scotland in 1870, 34 years before the founding of the World Federation. To achieve this, they had to agree on the rules of the game, otherwise the referee in charge would not have a good day.

To arrange this, International Football Association Board (IFAB) was established by Wales, England, Scotland and Ireland. The legal basis for football was laid there. the Rules of the game They are therefore much older than FIFA, and are all organized in the British Isles. That’s IFAB, in short blackboardstill exists.

Four independent members

The beginning of FIFA without it Major nations So it was disastrous. In order to integrate these unions, they were all offered to become independent members, rather than just the United Kingdom. This gave the UK not one vote in FIFA, but four. With a current membership of 211 countries, this no longer matters, but at the beginning of the last century, not even ten countries were members of FIFA. Thus Wales, England, Scotland and Ireland gained enormous influence.

Then there was something else: FIFA recognized the International Football Association Board (IFAB) as the eternal guardian of the rules of the game. Wales, England, Scotland, and Ireland each received 12.5% ​​of the votes for this organization, i.e. half of the total. The other half was for FIFA itself. Since a rule change can only be achieved with at least 75% of the vote, FIFA is unable to decide on this matter independently. The association always needs the support of at least two people for this purpose Major nations: 50% + 12.5% ​​+ 12.5%.

Under these circumstances, the four British associations actually joined FIFA between 1905 and 1911. The only thing that changed was that Ireland split into an independent country and Northern Ireland, still part of the United Kingdom, in the 1920s. For the rest, Great Britain still consists of four football nations.

These rules therefore do not apply to the International Olympic Committee, which only recognizes Great Britain. It is therefore very strange that the party committee of the League of Nations did not think about this matter. Because the problem of FIFA since 1904 has suddenly become a big problem for the 2024 Olympics.