Scudamore open to Olympic lessons

No sooner had the Games finished on Sunday than unfavourable comparisons were being drawn between footballers and the sportsmen and women who contributed to Britain's most successful Olympics for more than a century.

The debate is also going on within football but, speaking at the Premier League launch in Manchester, Scudamore was keen to focus on the similarities between the two.

He said: "The Olympics is the biggest show on earth, you'd have to be living in a cave not to catch the excitement of it.

"But when have we spent ?9billion on hosting an event in this country? This is the largest event in the world, and it's happening in London, which is one of the most iconic cities in the world. It was always going to be fantastic.

"But I'm also very proud of what football is and what the Premier League is, and we're very well respected around the world.

"You just knew, as sure as night follows day, that people were going to be saying, 'Oh look at those Olympians who've gone through all this training and dedicated themselves to their sport and their mum and dads have taken them to training, compared to footballers'.

"So footballers just woke up one morning and were brilliant professional footballers? They've also done the training, done the hard work, the sport science, who've also got fantastic coaches.

"We've got the parents who've taken their kids back and forth. So, whilst there are differences, there are also huge similarities."

The atmosphere of positivity surrounding all aspects of the Olympics has been seen as the biggest success story to come out of the fortnight, and that is where Scudamore believes comparisons are unfair.

He said: "People love their football in this country, but does everybody love it? No. It's easier to unify behind some of the athletic performances because there isn't that anti feeling. Football polarises opinion.

"But fair play to the athletes and the organisers, we can look at that, we can admire, we can envy bits of it, and we can try to emulate some of that in our own sport."

One thing Scudamore has no doubt about is that the Premier League will continue to capture people's imaginations around the world when the 21st season kicks off on Saturday.

He added: "It'll be back on Saturday, and it will have its critics, but it will have more people following it, there'll be more debate in workplaces on Monday morning, and it'll be football again.

"The test will come on a cold February weekend, how many people are talking about Premier League football and how many people are talking about one of the more remote medal performances from the Games.

"But the great thing about the Olympics is how it has raised a lot of people's hopes and aspirations about sport generally."

Meanwhile, Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck hit back at the characterisation of footballers as poor role models compared to Britain's Olympians.

The 21-year-old said: "There's going to negatives but I think that's something you have to deal with in everyday life. I think the majority of footballers are very well behaved and very professional."