The FAs of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have reiterated their opposition to a Great Britain Olympic team for the 2012 games in London.

The nations fear it would lead to being stripped of their status as independent teams, despite assurances from Fifa.

In a combined letter, the associations set out three main objections.

They state that: football should not be an Olympic sport; as an under-23 event it discriminates; and clubs would lose players at a vital part of the season.

The letter was sent to the British Olympic Association [BOA], football's world governing body Fifa and the English Football Association.

It was signed by the respective presidents of the SFA, FAW and IFA, George Peat, Peter Rees and Raymond Kennedy.

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The letter reads: "...participation and success in the Games should be the pinnacle for the sport in question... in football this is certainly not the case. The World Cup and European Championships are regarded as the major tournaments.

"[Football] is designated as an Under-23 contest. We consider that... a discriminatory element is introduced to the event. No other sport has an age-related qualifying element.

"The Olympic Games takes place in August. This appears to take no account of the fact that the football season has already begun and that clubs would be materially inconvenienced with the loss of called-up players."

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have never wavered in their opposition to a GB football team for the Olympics.

Despite that speculation has continued, with Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson - a Scotsman - on Friday having to publicly state he would not be interested in managing a GB football team.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter has said it might be better to enter a team featuring players only from England, which now appears the only option if the BOA insists on a GB team at London 2012.

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