Olympic Controversy

By: Jon | August 6th, 2008

Hey Everyone. Thought I’d start this post off with a bit of an introduction, seeing as how I haven’t posted on here before. Don’t worry though, I’ll get to the interesting Schalke-related news in a minute. So anyway, my name’s Jon and I’m a student at UWO in Canada, which means for many of you, I have immediate empathy for two reasons: a) never have enough time to watch football, and b) when there is time, European football coverage is pretty crappy anyway. Much to my delight, I can catch games online, so I will be doing that as well as keeping tabs on Schalke related news. Hope you guys enjoy the posts, and leave comments if you have any suggestions!

Now for some news about Die Knappen…

Olympic Controversy
Rafinha, Diego to play at Olympics
FIFA disappointed with decision

A couple things here, which I guess people probably have a strong opinion about, so naturally I’ll through my two cents into the mix. Just quickly to bring everyone up to speed, a couple weeks ago, FIFA insisted that it is manditory for clubs to release players aged 23 or under for national team duty at the Beijing Olympics. A few clubs, including Schalke, fought back, suggesting that because the olympics are not a FIFA sanctioned event, they have no such obligations. With the start of the Bundesliga season on the horizon, as well as champions league second leg matches in August, the timing couldn’t be worse really. So naturally, things went to arbitration, where the court of arbitration for sport (CAS) ruled in favor of the clubs’ stance. FIFA made a final appeal to allow the players to play “in harmony with the Olympic spirit”.

Schalke is directly impacted by this situation because Schalke defender Rafinha has made clear his intentions of playing in the Olympics regardless of any sanctions placed against him. As a fan, I will have to side with the club here. Who knows, perhaps if I was Brazilian, I would feel differently, but with the important CL match coming up against a team in Athletica Madrid, that is definitely stiff competition, fans should be able to expect that the best team will be fielded in such a situation. However, with that said, I agree with the decision by Schalke which was announced today to allow Rafinha to play for the Olympics, if only to prevent an explosive situation. Since rocking the boat at this stage in the game won’t really do anything, then I think this is the most diplomatic option. Don’t get me wrong, this is definitely of a reluctant position on my part — I’d rather see Rafinha for the CL game in blue and white — but given the circumstances, it’s as good as we can hope for.

All for now, gotta get back to work….