Britannia Waives The Rules - Again

"BRITANNIA waives the rules" is actually a mis-quote. The original quote, in reference to the New York Yacht Club's long possession of the America's Cup read: "Britannia rules the waves - the NYYC waives the rules" since that august body wasn't above rule-changes if they helped keep that mighty trophy bolted to the floor in the club's committee room.

Be that as it may, the latest example of Britannia waiving the rules would be hilarious, if it wasn't so serious, since Britannia is in this instance, waiving its own rules. I refer to the fact that further petrol has been fanned onto that bonfire of the vanities which is the 2012 London Olympics.

These games are turning into a classic case of demonstrating that those awfully-nice English chaps down in that there Lunnun, the descendants of the men who once ruled over the mightiest empire in the history of the world can no longer run a gird.

Immediately London won the right to host the Games in 2012, it was announced that there would be British football teams competing. I knew then the smelly stuff was going to hit the fan and drop on those of us below for a long time to come.

It seemed all was well when the Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh FAs decided that to compete as part of a single Team GB would compromise their independence within UEFA and FIFA and that consequently, the (English) FA, the game of football's representatives on the British Olympic Association, the body which looks after the United Kingdom's participation in the Olympics, would be able to pick Team GB squads for the men's and women's competitions, provided these squads were made up of "English" players.

FIFA accepted this, job done - but not as far as the BOA were concerned - they want an all-inclusive, truly "British" Team GB and will apparently settle for nothing less.

But, to insist on this inclusive team, cuts across their own rules, and FIFA's.

BOA rules say that the selection criteria for the teams representing each individual sport is a matter for the body which oversees that sport - in football's case the FA. They spoke to the three other FAs within the United Kingdom and after these talks the "English-only" selection criteria emerged. That ought to be enough for the BOA, but apparently it isn't.

The waters are now getting muddier, with Stewart Regan, the SFA's Chief Executive quoted this week as saying there would be nothing they (the SFA) could do, if a Scottish player decided he or she would play for Team GB.

Oh yes there is. The FA couldn't decide: "We're playing Germany next week in a vital World Cup qualifier, our goalie's are shite, so we'll pick Craig Gordon of Sunderland - he's not in the Scotland team just now, he's better than what we've got, so we'll have him".

Couldn't happen - Gordon is Scottish not England. If he's Scottish, not English for the World Cup, or the European Championship and cannot therefore be selected by the FA for such tournaments - he cannot become eligible to be selected by the FA for another tournament, even one for which he is eligible, without the say-so of the SFA.

The BOA is therefore interfering in a football issue which is none of its business. It asked its subsidiary, the FA, to come up with a selection criteria which was acceptable to all four governing bodies of football within the UK, the FA, to its credit consulted and did this, the matter ought to have been left there.

As for Stewart Regan saying there is nothing the SFA could do to prevent Gordon, or Julie Fleeting or any other Scottish player from accepting an invitation to play in London, yes there is - take the BOA to the International Court for Arbitration In Sport - I figure the SFA would win.