WELSH 400m HURDLER Dai Greene says that professional footballers should not be allowed to compete at the Olympic Games, as it would overshadow more traditional Olympic sports.
The British Olympic Association wants a British team to compete at London 2012. However, the Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish associations are against the idea and Greene thinks that the Olympics is ‘no place’ for football.
“I don’t think the football team should be there in the first place,” the BBC reports him as saying.
“I hope that those big names don’t overshadow those people who have trained for four years to be there for that one moment.
“These guys have four to five weeks off in the summer then become an Olympian. It does seem a little bit out of place.
“These guys want to win Premierships, Champions League trophies and World Cup medals. They don’t grow up wanting to be an Olympic champion, they want to be the best in football.
“The crowning glory in football isn’t being Olympic champion so I don’t think their sport should necessarily be involved – or at least at a professional level.”
While the 25-year-old Greene is a football fan and even turned out for Swansea City’s youth team, he says that most athletes would agree with his stance.
“Most athletes would agree with what I’m saying,” said Greene. “There’s no place for it at the Olympics.”
