United Kingdom Team
Scotland has always participated by itself in most of the major tournaments, such as the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship. At the Olympic Games, however, the International Olympic Committee charter only permit a Great Britain Olympic football team, representing the whole of the United Kingdom, to compete. Teams of amateur players represented Great Britain at the Olympics from 1900 until 1972, but the FA stopped entering a team after then because the distinction between amateur and professional was abolished. The successful bid by London for the 2012 Summer Olympics prompted the FA to explore how a team could be entered. The SFA responded by stating that it would not participate, as it feared this would threaten the independent status of the Scotland national team. FIFA President Sepp Blatter denied this, but the SFA expressed concern that a future President could take a different view. An agreement was reached in May 2009 whereby the FA would be permitted to organise a team using only England-qualified players, but this was successfully challenged by the British Olympic Association. Only English and Welsh players were selected for the men's squad, but two Scotland players were selected for the women's team.
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