Rafinha Goes AWOL to Chase Olympic Gold

July 21st, 2008 | by: Daryl |

Schalke 04 player Márcio Rafael Ferreira de Souza, or Rafinha to you and I, has gone AWOL for the Olympics. The right back been called up to the Brazil squad for the games in Beijing next month, but Schalke have repeatedly refused him permission to go.

Schalke general manager Andreas Muller says “I spoke with [Rafinha] on Sunday and was insistent that nothing had changed in our position and that we were expecting him to be with us on Monday for the trip to our training camp in Austria. He informed me that he would not be at the meeting place for the journey and would not join our training camp.”

Rafinha himself was quoted in Bild today saying: “I want to meet up with the Olympic team on Tuesday. I don’t think I’ll be travelling with Schalke into the training camp.”

Rafinha isn’t the only player having trouble with his Olympic dream. Werder Bremen’s 23-year-old Brazilian genius Diego has also been refused permission to go to the Olympics, while Real Madrid are (somewhat suspiciously) claiming Robinho is too injured to travel. Argentinian starlet Leo Messi is currently arguing things out with Barcelona while Milan’s Kaka has been refused permission to go to Beijing even though new teammate Ronaldinho is free to attend.

The interesting thing here is that Rafinha is only 22 years old, and so Schalke are obliged to release him as an under-23 Olympic player. Diego also qualifies as a U-23 player, having been born after Jan 1st 1985. So will Schalke be bold enough to take disciplinary action against Rafinha, and will Werder Bremen keep Diego from going? And if so, will there be any backlash from FIFA?

Click here for a further explanation of the Olympic call-up rules.

Tags: ac milan, Barcelona, Brazil, Diego, Kaka, Leo Messi, Olympics, Rafinha, Real Madrid, Robinho, Ronaldinho, Schalke, World Football

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Comments

By Bruno Romani | July 21st, 2008 at 3:51 pm

if rafinha can do this, why kaka can never play for brasil?

By Jan | July 21st, 2008 at 4:18 pm

“However, FIFA principles state clubs should make available any player aged 23 or under who is called up to their country’s Olympic squad.” – FIFA statement

FIFA just said they should not that they have to make the players available. The Olympics aren’t part of FIFA’s official football calendar and only events mentioned there are legally binding. FIFA have actually confirmed that to the DFL and they would need to change their rules first, before clubs who withhold players could face any trouble. So clubs can and should but they don’t have to release their U23 players. But that doesn’t matter in Rafinha’s case anyway, it’ll just be interesting to see what Schalke will do now.

By Rob | July 21st, 2008 at 4:37 pm

Its refreshing, I think. I mean with England, you just don’t often see this kind of commitment (I’m looking at you David Bently). Its not as if some other club won’t buy him if Schalke get rid.

By diana | July 22nd, 2008 at 1:20 am

It’s definitely going to be interesting in Rafinha’s case Jan, given he’s 22. And you know what he has to say of his decision to go? From the Sporting Life website…

Quote:
Rafinha told GloboEsporte.com: “I wanted to part on good terms. The president (Josef Schnusenberg) did not release me. He told me the club is not obliged to do so. However, it is a mandatory as I clarified my doubts with the Brazilian Football Confederation.

“For the Germans, the Olympics have no importance, but they are very important to me because this is a title Brazil have never won.”

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/overseas/other/story_get.dor?STORY_NAME=international_feed/08/07/22/SOCCER_Ger-Bundesliga_Olympics_Night.html&TEAMHD=foreign

Rob, you could be hitting the nail on the head. Schalke have reportedly told Rafinha that they will terminate his contract if he really heads to Beijing next month. It’s in the same link.

Coming from Singapore myself, of course it’s nice to see the boys from Brazil right here in my country tomorrow Wednesday (the rumours of them possibly coming here first surfaced on Saturday and it was confirmed by our football association the following day). But then with all these news, I am having mixed feelings of seeing Ronaldinho and gang here. It didn’t really helped when I see such a report on Monday – http://www.todayonline.com/pdf_open.asp?id=2107SPR029

Oh well.

Posted from Singapore

By diana | July 22nd, 2008 at 2:05 am

Rob, I was reading BBC Sport’s Tim Vickery latest column (he writes topics about South American footbal) and he explained why the Olympic football tournament is also important in Brazil as much as the World Cup. Rafinha’s insistence on heading to the Games do have a valid reason.

What Vickery wrote:

In the here and now, the Olympic tournament represents a chance of claiming a title – and anyone who thinks South American football prizes fun and self expression over collecting trophies is seriously deluded.

The Olympic gold is the only title Brazil have never won, and they are desperate to put that right and complete the set.

Argentina, of course, are the reigning champions. But they still want more – especially as they have a new coach, 1986 World Cup midfielder Sergio Batista, in charge of their youth sides. A win will establish him in his new post.

Dunga, Brazil’s senior coach, is also in charge of the Olympic side, and with his team struggling so badly in World Cup qualification, success in China will do wonders for his prestige – according to some dark voices, it is the only thing which will keep him in a job.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/7516842.stm

Posted from Singapore

By Rob | July 22nd, 2008 at 9:36 am

Very interesting! Thanks for that.

By diana | July 22nd, 2008 at 10:03 am

No problem. I read Vickery’s columns on the BBC website from time to time and was lucky to have read that.

And the updates to the Rafinha situation, along with Diego’s case – http://eurosport.yahoo.com/22072008/58/bundesliga-rebel-diego-joins-brazil-squad.html

So…I am expecting to see both guys later on today. It’s already Wednesday here in Singapore. On Monday, it was reported on the newspapers here that Dunga and the Olympic footall squad will be here en route to the Olympics (they will play a friendly against a local selection on July 28). After the Singapore stop, they will also be heading to Vietnam before the trip to China.

As someone from Singapore myself, I am actually having mixed feelings about this. The papers here are excited, as you can expect. After our football association confirmed the news over the weekend, that is. It might had been a real coup to see the boys from Brazil at my own backyard but, we have all these club-versus-country ‘mess’ going on. It might be the Olympic football squad but, as far as I can remember, this is the first time the samba boys are coming to my country.

Posted from Singapore

By cibele | July 22nd, 2008 at 6:44 pm

http://olimpiadas.uol.com.br/2008/album/080722selecao_album.jhtm?abrefoto=5

Diego looks happy haha