European clubs have criticized FIFA and its president Sepp
Blatter over the Olympic soccer tournament, saying they have backtracked on an
agreement to restrict it to under-21 teams.
"We are very surprised about the change of opinion of
FIFA," European Clubs' Association (ECA) chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge
said in a statement.
"In several meetings, we had the consensus to change
the eligibility for the Olympic Games to under-21 players with no over age
players.
"We think it's not acceptable and encourage FIFA to
maintain its first position."
The Olympic soccer tournament is currently open to players
aged under-23 with up to three over-age players allowed per team.
"We remember some statements from Mr Blatter supporting
this proposal. We thought it was clearly accepted by FIFA," Barcelona president and
ECA vice-chairman Joan Laporta told reporters.
"We expect Mr Blatter to honor his commitments."
The Beijing Games were marked by a number of
club-versus-country disputes, the most publicized involving Laporta's Barcelona and Argentina striker Lionel Messi.
Barcelona eventually allowed Messi to take part after
winning the case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and Argentina went
on to win the gold medal.
"We had the right to keep the player, it was our decision
to release him," said Laporta. "They won the gold medal and Messi had
a marvelous season for Barcelona
, winning the championship."