DAVID CAMERON (pictured), the leader of the Conservative Party, today said a tournament between the four football teams from the Home Countries should be held to decide who represents Britain at the 2012 London Olympics.
The football governing bodies of Scotland and Wales and are opposed to the idea of a combined British football team to compete in London.
They fear it could jeopardise their independence and prevent them from competing in events like the World Cup and European Championships.
Cameron told BBC Scotland’s Politics Show there was a need for one national team when it came to the Olympics.
He said: “Maybe the answer is to have a home tournament, see who wins and that team goes forward, but for the Olympics we’ve got to settle this so there is a representative team.”
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond has led opposition to calls from Prime Minister Gordon Brown, London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe and British Olympic Association chairman Colin Moynihan for a united football team.
He said: “What we’re talking about in the Olympics is an under-21 team and the idea that, in any sense, we should risk the future of Scottish international football for the sake of participation in an under-21 tournament in the Olympics, I think it simply daft.”
Salmond urged all parties to stick with the Scottish Football Association’s position.
He said: “They take some knocks from time to time, but they know infinitely more about the workings of FIFA than David Cameron, Gordon Brown, or even Alex Salmond.”