Fifa Wants Talks on an Under-23 Olympic Women's Event

Fifa wants talks with the IOC on limiting the Olympic women's football tournament to players under 23. No formal proposal has been made, but it would change the nature of one of the highlights of the women's calendar.

A calendar that is already full

The growth and professionalisation of the women's game has increased fixture congestion, and the 2028 calendar is the most bloated yet. Fifa is largely to blame: it scheduled the Women's Club World Cup for an Olympic year. The US will host the 16-team event from 5 to 30 January, six months before the Games.

It will disrupt the European club season. If they go deep, Arsenal and Chelsea or Manchester City are likely to miss up to a month of domestic play, including four Women's Super League matches and the FA Cup fourth round.

Two parties who may say no

The IOC may resist. Women's football has major commercial appeal for it, especially in the US, Europe and Australia. In Los Angeles the women's tournament will be bigger than the men's for the first time, with 16 teams to 12. That reverses the numbers at Paris 2024.

Leading international players could object: for them the Games have long been a high point of the women's calendar. Emma Hayes's United States team won gold in Paris two years ago. The title has been contested eight times, and the US have won five.

How the men's event got its age limit

Women's football joined the Olympics at Atlanta in 1996. It was amateur then and never had eligibility rules, unlike the men's game.

The men's event was different. Football was admitted to the programme in 1908, but the IOC did not allow professionals until 1984. Fifa insisted on the primacy of the World Cup, and a congested calendar put demands on players. Under Fifa pressure the IOC introduced an under-23 limit in 1992, though each squad has been allowed three overage players since 1996.

Talks, not a proposal

Fifa wants talks with the International Olympic Committee because of fixture congestion and the workload of senior players. Sources at both bodies say they are open to dialogue.

No formal proposal has been made. Fifa is understood to want to examine the matter with the IOC, and to hear from players and from the leading national associations that routinely qualify.

An age limit would dramatically alter the event and would need careful analysis and consultation through Fifa and IOC processes. Eligibility for the 2028 Los Angeles Games is already set, and qualifying has begun in some regions. No change can come before Brisbane 2032 at the earliest. Fifa and the IOC declined to comment.

Source: The Guardian