The football at the 1920 Summer Olympics, was one of the 154 events at the 1920 Summer Olympics, held in Antwerp. It was the fifth time association football was on the Olympic schedule. The tournament was contested by 14 teams, with host country Belgium winning the gold medal. Spain won silver, while the Netherlands won the bronze medal.
Video Football at the 1920 Summer Olympics
Venues
Maps Football at the 1920 Summer Olympics
Squads
Tournament
16 teams entered the competition, which was organized on a knockout basis, but Switzerland withdrew after the first round draw had been made, meaning France were given a first-round bye.
14 teams entered the first round, with the winners joining France in the quarter-finals, with Belgium receiving a first round forfeit after Poland failed to appear.
Perhaps the most far-reaching of the results was that which saw Norway defeat Great Britain in the first round. The British delegation were concerned with the rise in 'professional' opponents within the international game. As Bernard Joy in Association Football (1960) was to write: "Out of pocket expenses were paid far in excess of the reimbursement for hotels and travelling. ... [Payments] for time lost from work, were made for playing and training, and teams were taken off for intense preparation together. Whatever the reason or excuse, thinly-veiled professionalism was rampant." Ironically Norway were not a professional side. The complaint was, however, clearly addressed at a growing trend within the game.
Czechoslovakia, participating in their first international tournament, cruised to the final, inflicting heavy defeats on Yugoslavia (who played their first ever international match in the competition), Norway, and France.
After the first round forfeit, Belgium beat a talented Spain and the Netherlands on their way to the final.
The final ended with Belgium winning the gold medal by default after Czechoslovakia walked off during the final to protest the performance of the English referee, John Lewis.
The Bergvall System was used to determine second and third places. The beaten quarter-finalists played-off, Spain emerged triumphant overcoming Sweden 2-1 and Italy 2-0. Ordinarily, Spain would then have played the beaten finalists, but since Czechoslovakia had been disqualified from the tournament, Spain thus advanced straight to the silver medal match against the Netherlands, who were beaten in the semi-finals by gold medallists Belgium. Spain won 3-1.
Results
First round
Belgium were scheduled to play Poland, but Poland failed to arrive; Belgium were awarded a 2-0 victory.
Bye: France
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Gold medal match
The final was highly controversial and is the only time an international final has been abandoned.
Belgium were awarded the gold medal by default after Czechoslovakia walked off the field in the 40th minute with the score 2-0 to protest the officiating after Czech left-back Karel Steiner was ejected for assaulting Robert Coppée.
They were unhappy with the performance of the 65-year-old English referee, John Lewis, who had already refereed the Belgian semi-final victory over the Netherlands, a match observed by the Czechs (it had taken place on the same day and in the same stadium as their own victory against France), as well as the English linesmen, Charles Wreford-Brown and A. Knight, who had allowed a contentious second Belgian goal in the 30th minute that Henri Larnoe had converted.
The Czechs immediately protested the result of the final. Their protests, translated from the original French, were as follows:
1. We were allocated an English linesman, which is in contradiction with the rules which state that each participating nation has the right to one of both linesman. This violation of the rules was prejudicial to us during the game, because the English linesman was not impartial and this is why we seek the cancellation of the match. Immediately after the game we brought this notice to the attention of M. Rodolphe Seeldrayers.
2. The majority of the decisions of the referee Mr. Lewis were wrong and it was obvious that it gave the public the wrong impression about our game. Also both Belgian goals were the result of incorrect decisions of the referee and we seek a rigorous investigation on that point.
3. During the match, Belgian soldiers were introduced to the crowd until they circled the pitch and because of their provocative presence our players were unable to play their normal game. As a result of the very regrettable incident at the end of the match when there was a pitch invasion led by the soldiers and our national flag was insulted we will not participate until we have received an apology from the (Belgian) soldiers.
Czechoslovakia's protests were dismissed, and they were disqualified from the tournament.
Sliver and bronze medal tournament
First round
Second round
Third round
This round was scratched and Spain advanced to the final against the Netherlands (beaten in the semi-finals by Belgium) as Czechoslovakia were disqualified after their walk off during the final, and Belgium had a forfeit in the first round after Poland failed to arrive.
Silver and bronze medal match
Friendly match
This match was not part of the tournament, but was organised after both teams were eliminated. Some sources refer to this as an eighth place match or part of the silver and bronze medal tournament.
Goalscorers
- 7 goals
- 6 goals
- 5 goals
- 4 goals
- 3 goals
- 2 goals
- 1 goal
Medalists
References
External links
- Olympic Football Tournament Antwerp 1920, FIFA.com
- RSSSF - 1920 Olympic Games
- Article about the 1920 Olympic football tournament
- 1920 Antwerp's Olympic Football Tournament
- The VII Summer Games - Football
Source of article : Wikipedia
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