Assurances from soccer’s world governing body FIFA that a united British team at the 2012 Olympics will not threaten the independence of the four individual nations — Wales, Scotland, England and Northern Ireland — are not softening the Scottish FA’s opposition to the concept.
“We await with interest the outcome of FIFA’s deliberations next month but we must be clear on this,” said an SFA spokesman. “We have to take decisions on this issue, based on what is right for Scottish football. While we would welcome any statement from FIFA, we have to be clear that FIFA is an organization made up of its members — and it is their views on the precedent that a Team GB would set that are so important in this issue.”
The spokesman said the SFA would do nothing to jeopardize the country’s current status and, “at this stage, we feel that a Team GB does just that. At some point, there is a real danger that a precedent of a Team GB will come back and threaten our status as a separate nation.”