Blog – Page 43 – Your Soccer Home

One of my favorite events to watch at the Olympics is the soccer tournament. But one of the things that has always intrigued me is why there is an age limit on which players can take part. So I decided it was time to find out, and I wanted to share what I found with you. Why does Olympic soccer have an age limit? Olympic soccer has an age limit to ensure the FIFA World Cup(a separate tournament) retains its number 1 position in world soccer and doesn't have to compete for attention with Olympic soccer. As with many decisions that people make every day, there wasn't just one issue to consider; a number of other factors also came into play. If you want to find out when soccer was first featured in the Olympics, have a look at this article I recently wrote. You may be surprised at what you find out! Reasons Why the Olympic Soccer Age Limit Was Put in Place Avoiding competition with the FIFA World Cup was clearly a significant factor in making the decision to implement an age limit at the Olympics. The concern was that without any obvious difference between the two competitions, apart from a difference in the number of teams taking part, it would just be like a World Cup taking place every two years rather than every four years. FIFA(the organization that governs world soccer) was worried that this would negatively affect the importance and significance of the World Cup and was insistent that there had to be a notable difference between the two. When working through the process of deciding whether to impose an age limit, there were a few things going on that would have influenced the minds of those making the decision. One of those factors was that the introduction of an age limit had the advantage of leveling the playing field for all the teams in the competition. Traditionally world soccer is dominated by teams from Europe and South America. In fact, in the whole history of the FIFA World Cup, since it first took place in 1930, no team from outside Europe or South America has ever won it. They've never even made it to the final game! If Olympic Soccer were an all-age tournament, there would be a high chance of it also being dominated by the national teams from Europe and South America. Although the European and South American teams still have a strong record at the Olympics, countries from other continents have taken advantage of the age restriction, with the African nation of Nigeria winning the tournament in 1996 and Cameroon winning in 2000. Another factor that would also have been considered by the International Olympic Committee(IOC) and FIFA was the already busy schedule that the soccer players had. As well as all the games they had to play for their club and national teams throughout a regular 9-10 month season, they also already had other tournaments to take part in during their summer and winter breaks. Expecting all a nation's best players to turn out for the Olympic soccer tournament was also considered too much to ask of them. Although these soccer players are athletes in peak condition, they still need a break and time off sometimes as well! What Is the Age Limit for Soccer at the Olympics? The age limit for soccer at the Olympics is 23 years old. The age of 23 was chosen for the Olympics because the European teams qualify based on how well they perform at the European u21 championships that used to take place two years before the Olympic tournament. In most other soccer tournaments, the highest age limit is usually 21 years old. However, having an age limit of 23 meant that those players who were 21 at the time of the previous u21 European championship would still be allowed to participate in the competition that they had worked so hard to qualify for. It would be pretty frustrating to help get your team to the Olympics only to be then told you're too old actually to take part! Since this decision was made, the timings of the u21 European championship have changed, and they now take place the year before the Olympics. How This Compares to the FIFA World Cup As previously mentioned, the age limit in Olympic soccer is the most significant difference between this competition and the World Cup. There is no age limit at the FIFA World Cup in either men's or women's competitions. Players of any age may participate. The youngest player to compete in the World Cup was Norman Whiteside, who appeared in Spain in 1982 at age 17 years, 40 days. The record for the oldest player to compete at a FIFA World Cup is held by Egyptian goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary. He appeared in the 2018 World Cup at the age of 45 years, 161 days. Find out more in my article - Age Limit at the FIFA World Cup. When Was the Age Limit Introduced? Soccer became an official Olympic sport in 1904 at the Olympic Games in St. Louis. However, FIFA recognizes the 1908 Olympic Games as soccer's first official appearance at the Olympics. Women's soccer became an Olympic sport at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Although soccer became an Olympic sport over 100 years ago, the age limit for Olympic soccer wasn't introduced until much later. The age limit for Olympic soccer was introduced in 1992 at the Barcelona Olympics. *If you're interested in finding out how long soccer has been a part of the Olympics, click here to go to another of my articles giving you much more information about Olympic soccer.* Prior to this, the agreement between the IOC and FIFA had been that the competing teams could enter any players they wanted. The only exception to this was that countries from Europe and South America could only field players who had not previously taken part in a FIFA World Cup. Similar to what was mentioned earlier, this was in place to try and prevent the competition from being dominated by the same teams every time. Are There Any Exceptions To the 23-Year-Old Age Limit? Yes, there are! The main exception is that every team is allowed to enter 3 over-age players. This allows some of the best players from each nation to still take part and adds a higher level of skill and experience to the teams. This has allowed some of the best players in the world, such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, to appear in the Olympics well beyond the age of 23. Interestingly, the players over the age of 23 that can take part would not have been able to take part in any of the qualifying rounds for the tournament. This is due to the fact that all the qualifying rounds take place between the under-21 teams from the nations participating. By the time the Olympics comes around, all those players would still be under the age of 23. Does Women’s Soccer at the Olympics Also Have an Age Limit? Interestingly, there are a few differences between men's and women's soccer at the Olympics. For one thing, there is no age limit in the women’s tournament. The reason for this is that it is generally agreed that women's soccer around the world is more equally competitive than men's soccer, where it is dominated by nations from just two continents. Because of this, there isn't the same need to balance out the competition. The fact that the women's World Cup, although growing in popularity, isn't as widely watched or as popular as the men's version also means that there wasn't the same issue of rival competitions to concern FIFA either. So far, they have been happy to let the women's soccer competition open to players of all ages since it first took place at the 1996 games in Atlanta. Because of the lack of an age limit, another difference in women's soccer is that it's usually the best women's soccer players from around the world that turn up to play every 4 years. In men's soccer, that's rarely the case. This is because not only does the men's soccer tournament have an age limit which, by definition, limits the eligible players, but because the Olympic tournament isn't on the FIFA international calendar. This means the player's clubs are not obligated to release them to play in the Olympics. So if you're looking to watch the best players around the world competing at the Olympics, then you're probably better off watching women's rather than men's soccer. Related questions Do professional soccer players play in the Olympics? Professional soccer players have been playing in the Olympics since the 1984 games in Los Angeles when the competing nations were first given permission to enter professional players. Before the 1984 Olympics, all players had to be amateurs. How many players are on an Olympic soccer team? According to the regulations, each team in the Olympics can have a roster of up to 20 players eligible for each match. This includes 11 selected players and nine substitutes. Of these 20 players, three must be goalkeepers. Is Olympic soccer a big deal? Olympic Soccer is a big deal as it brings together teams from across the world to compete in front of a global audience. However, it is often compared unfavorably to the soccer World Cup which is considered to be a much bigger and more important competition. *Check out the next post - "Can a Goalkeeper Score in Soccer?"*