Next Friday, the first edition of the women’s Nations League begins. Sweden is pitted against the toughest opposition imaginable directly in the form of world champions Spain.
But the Nations League also serves as Olympic qualifiers for the games in Paris next summer. A total of three teams from Europe make it there.
France are, in the form of host country, direct qualifiers. Then only two places remain for Europe to compete for.
Sweden is cheering for the new format to wash out the two.
– If we had the old way, Sweden would have been gone, then Great Britain and Spain would have played the Olympics (they went the furthest in the WC). In the past, we have had difficulty getting a separate Olympic qualification, says national team manager Marika Domanski Lyfors and continues:
– These are matches that will matter a lot. Then it’s tough considering that we have three WC nations in our group (Spain, Switzerland, Italy).
The criticism: “Just drive on”
Something the Swedish national team is not happy about is the silence surrounding the number of teams that qualify for the Olympics.
– In this case, nothing has happened in four years. I don’t even know if you have discussions. I don’t know what is the reason for not making changes. I think it’s strange in these times, says Peter Gerhardsson.
The Swedish national team captain is frustrated that there are not as many teams on the women’s and men’s side. 16 U21 national teams make it to the Olympics, 12 A national teams on the women’s side.
– I think that is the absolute biggest mistake in the whole thing. If there was someone wise at the IOC or at FIFA who cooperates with the football tournament, maybe they would turn it around. At least it should be equal. I know we brought this up before the Olympics in Japan as well, he says and continues.
– You just keep going. The risk is that you lose interest in women’s football, with these increased matches in the Champions League and hopefully a Europa League will start in the long term, so maybe the Olympics have done their part. You have the option of bringing in more teams, but I think it’s poorly managed.
“Now one disappears”
National team manager Marika Domaniski Lyfors has been dragging the issue for several years, seemingly without results.
– We want to have more places to Europe and we also want to work for more teams. It’s a strange format. But the Olympic movement has a different view of it. They want to bring the whole world. They try to keep active people down because they want to include other sports as well. It’s almost always the case that when a sport comes in, it’s one that gets to go out.
She believes that what they want to keep down is the number of active players, but believes that Europe should have more places considering how the European teams place themselves at the World Cup.
– It feels stingy and a bit strange when there are only three places and now one is disappearing with France.
Sweden meets Spain on September 22 in the first match in the Nations League.
The Spanish players arrive here – after the boycott
The Spanish players arrive here – after the boycott
2023-09-22 05:32:56
#Harsh #criticism #Olympics #poorly #managed
