Olympic Football: Double-header for GB teams

Coventry will be one of the proud hosts of the 2012 Olympic Football tournament at the City of Coventry Stadium, renamed especially for the games.

Vital Football will be looking ahead to the competition on a regular basis over the coming year and focuses on Team GB's preparations.

After the naming of Stuart Pearce and Hope Powell respectively as the coaches of the two GB teams, the FA (who are in charge of both) are keen to get both teams playing warm-up friendlies on the same day as part of a double-header just prior to the games.

Olympic rules state friendlies cannot be played at London 2012 venues, ruling out Wembley, Old Trafford, St James' Park, Hampden Park, the City of Coventry stadium, and the Millennium Stadium.

Meanwhile the discussion still rumbles on as to who Pearce and Powell will be able to choose for their respective squads as players from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland wait and see whether they will be picked.

Most of the focus to date has been on Gareth Bale of Wales and he looks to have made his feelings clear by posing in a special Team GB shirt recently.

FA of Wales chief executive Jonathan Ford told the BBC: 'Our position remains unchanged. We are not for Team GB.

'Gareth can make his own choices and make his own decisions. But we are not going to stop anyone playing.'

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