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Taranaki Daily News, 31 December 1926, Page 4

ATHLETICS. CMF NEXT OLYMPIC GAMES. Though the next Olympic Games do not take place until the chosen venue being Amsterdam, the. British Association are already pressing forward their plane to get together a representative team, stronger than any of those which have been available since the great athletic carnival was revived. There is, however, one unfortunate aspect. Association football is now becoming a world-wide game—at the present time there are' over fifty national governing authorities —but the Football Association, the parent body, are not prepared at present to enter a team. As a matter of fact, it is not possible for them to do so, unless they surrender principles which they have persistently fought to defend, and there is not the slightest chance of their doing this. The trouble has arisen on the question of the definition of an amateur. On the Continent the authorities have legalised the payment for what we know as “broken time.” That is to say, if a man leaves his work in order to play in a match, and sacrifices money, this is paid to him by hie club. The Football Association will not allow this and so, unless the other nations are willing to observe the same stringent rule, which is equally unlikely, English football will not be represented at Amsterdam. It has been decided that all the Governing bodies in future must see for themselves that their representatives are properly housed and fed, and have facilities for training. In these circumstances, the British Association are considering a proposal to follow the example of America at Stockholm in 1912, when a ship was chartered, and used as a floating hotel.