This phenomenon has sparked debate, some people think it is reasonable, but others think it will lose the level playing field. The England amateurs withdrew from football at the 1924 Paris Olympics, preferring not to play against unrated professionals.

However, England's withdrawal did not affect football at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. With 22 countries participating, it was the largest football gathering until the 1982 World Cup in Spain. Football contributed a third of the revenue for the Games. It was also the first time that a team from outside Europe had participated in the Olympic Football Games, and Uruguay, in particular, had won all the way to the championship.

The debate between "occupation" and "non-occupation"

On the eve of the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, FIFA recognized football professionalism. But there is still a huge debate about how to define an amateur player. For the next four years, FIFA and the International Olympic Committee engaged in a bitter dispute.

In 1925, in response to the issue of "idle time compensation", FIFA and the International Olympic Committee held a meeting in Prague. FIFA allowed players to be compensated for downtime and passed a decision that had a lasting impact: "In international competitions, teams from club or national associations may play each other regardless of the status of their players (amateur, non-amateur or professional), as long as they are approved by their respective national associations."

This revolutionary decision broke down professional and non-professional barriers and challenged the Olympic rule of only accepting amateurs. Not everyone even within FIFA agreed, with representatives from Switzerland and Sweden storming out in protest.

At the IOC congress that followed, delegates unanimously approved tough rules advocated by the new president, Henri Baye-Latour, that no athlete who had been a professional athlete in any sport at any time would be allowed to compete in the Olympics, including those who had received compensation for lost wages. In other words, only pure amateurs can compete in the Olympics.

Two different decisions put the two organizations on opposite sides. In 1927, the Swedish representative of the International Olympic Committee wrote to Baye-Latour: "If we make concessions to football people, we will certainly make concessions to everyone else, in which case we might as well make the Olympic Games open to everyone, professional or not."

But FIFA, led by Rimet, is also fully prepared for football to be excluded from the Olympics, and even expects that to happen. In 1926, Rimet and Hirschman discussed bringing back the international championship that Hirschman had planned. Hirschman came up with the idea of an international football tournament in 1902.

Hirschman was asked to canvass national federations on whether they supported an international tournament; And how the game should be played. In February 1927, Hirschman formed an advisory committee to discuss the creation of the first World Cup.

Seeing a growing rift between the two sides, the Netherlands, the host of the 1928 Olympics, asked Baye-Latour to keep the football tournament, citing financial concerns. Under pressure from the organizers, on August 8, 1927, the IOC agreed that stoppage time compensation would only be available in football, with the condition that the compensation would not be paid to the players, but to their employers. Such compromises are not popular within the Olympic Committee. Baye-latour finally promised to make a final decision on the issue of "idle time compensation" in 1930, when the prevailing thinking was that there would be no more football at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics.

Jules Rimet said the two sides were not just concerned about downtime compensation: "It is strange that our sport and its only world competition should be subject to the identity of the athlete, the principles, the rules and the philosophy imposed by another body." Before the 1928 Olympic Games, the FIFA Congress took a historic vote and passed the following resolution: "In 1930, a tournament open to the teams of all national associations will be organized." Twenty-three countries supported the resolution and five voted against it.

The conflict between the two sides did not spoil the 1928 Olympic football Games. Teams from the Americas, including Uruguay, the United States, Argentina, Chile and Mexico, took part, and Uruguay successfully defended its title. But for football's history, these games mark the end of a chapter in which the game's authority is no longer attached to the Olympics.

Football became the first sport to break away from the Olympic Games and organize its own international competition. Swimming had to wait until 1973 to do the same, athletics a decade later. While FIFA's idea of opening eligibility to all players would not be tried for more than 60 years after the Olympics.

Planning for the first World Cup

From 1926 to 1930, FIFA was engaged in intensive planning for the first World Cup. An advisory committee formed by Hirschman in February 1927 became the organizing committee for the first World Cup.

In September 1928, at a meeting in Zurich, FIFA finally decided to use the single elimination system. If there are more than 16 teams, there is a second level of competition. It was also decided that the entire event would be held in only one country. (This rule was broken in 2002 by the Korea-Japan World Cup.)

In 1929, at the FIFA Congress held in Barcelona, Hungary, the Netherlands, Sweden, Italy and Uruguay all offered themselves as hosts. However, after learning of the financial needs and obligations of hosting the tournament, the Netherlands and then Sweden withdrew. Finally, the Argentine representative strongly recommended "neighbor" Uruguay, and the reasons are quite convincing: Uruguay has won two World Cups; 1930 marked the 100th anniversary of Uruguay's constitution; Uruguay's domestic football has seen a huge development; All of South America shares the honor of hosting the first World Cup.

His argument convinced everyone that Hungary and Italy withdrew from the race, and they unanimously switched their support to Uruguay. It was decided that the first World Cup would be held in Montevideo, Uruguay, from July 15 to August 15, 1930.

However, as the World Cup approached, faced with a long journey halfway around the world, high costs, and great risks, only France and Belgium, of the 16 European countries that voted for Uruguay at the conference, decided to go. With the addition of Yugoslavia and Romania, only four countries from Europe took part.

The 1930 World Cup was a match for Uruguay

After winning the Olympic football championship in 1924 and 1928, the small South American country rose to fame. The hosting of the first World Cup continued its glory.

Football has even brought the country together like never before. The Uruguayan government, the diplomatic team, the city of Montevideo and the national football federation worked together to convince FIFA that their plan would work. They built the centennial stadium for the World Cup and named the two stands "Colomb" and "Amsterdam" in honor of their Olympic victories.

On 5 July 1930, after a 16-day voyage, the Green Count slowly entered the port of Montevideo carrying FIFA President Jules Rimet, as well as three European teams (Yugoslavia went alone on the Florida). Eight days later, the first World Cup began, with 13 teams divided into four groups.

Interestingly, as in the Olympic football final two years ago, Uruguay and Argentina, located on both sides of the Rio de La Plata River, met in the final of the World Cup. In the end, Uruguay defeated Argentina 4-2 to win this significant title on home soil.

Since then, except for a 12-year break due to World War II, the World Cup has been held every four years, and the rules have been modified several times, gradually developing into the sporting event of today.

But the Olympic football game is becoming more and more weak. In 1992, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) made a compromise with FIFA to make the Olympic Football tournament for under-23 players (later amended to allow three over-age players). Compared with the influence of the Olympic Games on football in the last century, the two sides are really easy to attack and defend.