Real Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni has expressed disappointment at the club’s decision to stop its senior players from going to the Olympics this summer.
Tchouameni had his eye on representing France at the men’s football tournament on home soil as an over-age player, with club-mate Eduardo Camavinga also eligible. Kylian Mbappe, who is expected to become a Madrid player in July, is another for whom the Olympics is an ambition.
“Obviously, playing in the Olympic Games, in your own country, is something extraordinary. It is not something that perhaps we can repeat in our lives, but [Real Madrid] is our employer,” Tchouameni conceded while on international duty with the French squad.
“From the moment Real Madrid decided to veto, I think we don’t have much to say. Besides, everyone knows that it is not necessarily good to disagree with your employer in daily life. The truth is that we would have liked to. That will not be possible but we will be the first [to support France].”
In men’s football, the Olympics is an Under-23 tournament, but each country is permitted to select up to three older players. Both Mbappe, 25, and Tchouameni, 24, would count towards that quota, with Camavinga still only 21. But with the likes of Lionel Messi and Neymar among high profile players to win gold medals so far this century, it is becoming increasingly prestigious and desirable.
The 2024 Olympic football tournament runs from 25 July to 10 August, starting only nine days after the Euro 2024 final. Mbappe, Tchouameni, Camavinga and any other players likely to be selected for the Euros would go without a summer break and miss pre-season if they were to play in both competitions, as was the case with Barcelona midfielder Pedri for Spain in the summer of 2021.
Unlike European Championships, World Cups, qualifying matches and official international friendlies, clubs are not obliged to release players for the Olympics as it is not part of FIFA’s calendar. It is up to individual clubs to decide, with Barcelona initially choosing to block Messi’s participation in 2008 until Pep Guardiola personally intervened to make the case on the player’s behalf.
Mbappe has been thought to consider representing France as non-negotiable and had agreed his participation with Paris Saint-Germain before then deciding this season would be his last with the club. He hasn’t given up hope of being involved once he joins Madrid as expected, but publicly conceded he will fall in line and not go if he is refused permission.
“I always wanted to play at the Olympics and my desire has not changed,” Mbappe said. “If I play the Olympics then it will be a dream, but if I’m not allowed to, then I will do as I’m told. The decision is still up to one person and they haven’t told me yes or no.”
Thierry Henry will lead France as coach at the Olympics and said he is powerless if clubs refuse.
“One must try to send an email to see if we can have a meeting,” he said. “If ever there is a meeting, we will try to plead our case. If the no stays as a no, I don’t have the cards to try and get something.”
