France Olympic squad marred in club controversy over participation

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France announce Olympic football squad

France thought that they had named the eighteen players to take them to Gold in Toyko at the delayed 2020 Olympic games when they announced the squad on Friday afternoon.

Les 1️⃣8️⃣ joueurs (et un réserviste) retenus par Sylvain Ripoll pour participer aux Jeux Olympiques de Tokyo, qui se tiendront du 21 juillet au 7 août 2021 🇫🇷

Sous réserve de la validation de la Commission Consultative de Sélections Olympiques du CNOSF pic.twitter.com/avUnPANUSm

— Equipe de France ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) June 25, 2021

The squad contains some renowned names, including the likes of Liga MX duo Andre-Pierre Gignac and Florian Thauvin, as well as Premier League pair Malang Sarr and William Saliba.

The side had already been dealt a blow when Liverpool blocked new signing Ibrahim Konate from being a part of the squad, and it appears as though the controversy has not stopped there.

Breaking:

Liverpool will block Mo Salah and Ibrahima Konate from going to the Olympics with Their nations. They will have a full pre-season. [@_pauljoyce]

— Watch LFC (@Watch_LFC) June 23, 2021

As per a report from Get French Football News [GFFN], three further clubs have ruled their players out of contention, while l’equipe and le progres both report a further dropout each, effectively cutting down Les Bleus current squad by almost a quarter.

Because the Olympic Games is not recognised by FIFA as an official international tournament, it is at the clubs’ discretion as to whether they release their players to participate.

Who has been blocked from participating?

OGC Nice have blocked their promising forward Amine Gouri from travelling to Tokyo this summer, while the much-coveted Rennes midfielder Eduardo Camavinga has also been deemed too important to his club to be allowed to join up with the side.

France squad for the Olympics announced – 3 clubs rebel & block players so far. https://t.co/OqihpflYpF

— Get French Football News (@GFFN) June 25, 2021

Monaco have also blocked their defender Benoit Badiashile from having the chance at Olympic gold, as per GFFN.

To make matters worse, L’equipe report that Malang Sarr, a Chelsea player on loan at Porto last season, will not be allowed to travel to Tokyo, nor will Lyon’s Maxence Caqueret as per Le Progres.