Clubs are not obliged to field players for the Games

The FIFA international calendar for men’s soccer until 2030, published by Mundo Deportivo, reflects that the The Olympic men’s soccer tournament is still not recognized as an official competition. It allows clubs it is not necessary to “release” your players in case they receive the call from their chosen ones.

This is clarified in the annex to the Regulation on Transfer Status of FIFA Players regarding the release of players for association team representatives. In his article on the principles of men’s football, he clarified that “the sending off of players is mandatory for matches appearing on the international calendar as well as for matches in the final competitions of the FIFA World Cup™, the FIFA Cup Confederations. and championships of representatives of the “A” team of the confederations, provided that the association in question is a member of the confederation organization”.

And that added up “The exit of the players is not compulsory outside of an international season or outside of the final competitions of the international calendar”. Since the Olympic Games are still not on this calendar, teams do not have to release their players. The same thing happens in lower World Cup tournaments such as U20, U17 etc. Situation that does not apply to Spanish football where the Sports Law and federative regulations are obliged to go to the call of the national team, both in the absolute and in the lower categories.

The same will not happen to Women’s Football where it exists obligation loan of players for the final stage of the Olympic women’s tournament. It is also included in this same document. In particular, in article 1bis related to the principles of football, where it first states that “clubs will be tied up to assign their players to the teams of the country to which the federation may be called according to their nationality. Any agreement to the contrary between players and clubs is prohibited”, a designation that will be mandatory “in all international seasons —reserved for the dispute of international matches—established in the international women’s calendar, as well as for the Women’s finals. FIFA™ World Cup, the Women’s Olympic Football Tournamentthe confederation championships for senior teams – provided that the federation in question is a member of the organizing confederation – and the final round of the confederation qualifying tournaments for the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament”.

Then, in women’s football, Spanish clubs are obliged to surrender their players for Paris 2024 Games, Beginning with Spanish. Not in the case of lesser World Cup tournaments.