On the couch / There may be hope for these Olympics

This is the time of the mad merry-go-round of soccer transfers: Time of the least savory aspects of the modern game, time when a mercenary spirit and lack of loyalties dominate - an ugly time. So it's a happy occurrence that FIFA - not always an outfit that promotes the very best qualities of the game - ruled on Wednesday that clubs must release players aged 23 or under for the Olympics, if they are requested by their national team.

Affected first and foremost are Catalonian club Barcelona and their brilliant 21-year-old Lionel Messi of Argentina, and the German clubs Schalke and Werder Bremen, with respect to their young Brazilians, Rafinha and Diego.

The clubs argued that the Olympics are not included on the official international calendar of matches. But FIFA said bluntly: "The international match calendar is not of relevance in establishing whether clubs are obliged to release players for the Olympics."

Messi is delighted. He understood his club's reluctance but, he said, it was a dream for him to play in an Olympics: "From the beginning I've said that I want to play for my national team and I've never had problems until now." Barcelona may launch an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and Messi added loyally: "If I get there and CAS says I have to come back then I will come back. But for the moment I want to be with my national team and my teammates."

A rare moment of sanity

It was a rare moment of sanity, one has to say, since unhappily there has been little that's glorious, as in the run-up to the Games we have been bombarded by a series of unappetizing stories:

* There's the human rights situation, which according to Amnesty International (though denied by China) has actually deteriorated rather than improved since the IOC awarded the Games to Beijing.

* There's the notorious Beijing smog; despite the best intentions to keep cars off the roads and factories shut, it just doesn't seem to ease.

* There are the restrictions (now freely admitted) on free reporting and free access for foreign reporters to the Web.

* And there are the constant stories about how ordinary Chinese folk have been moved, shuttered away or blocked out of the limelight, all so that the world isn't given even a glimpse of anything in China that's whatsoever unappealing.

Designated protest areas in Beijing

We've been told that the authorities will allow three designated areas in the city for protests and demonstrations to take place during the Games - provided of course a necessary permit has been secured. But, observes Richard Bernstein of The New York Times caustically: "No discontent will be allowed to cast a shadow on China's coming glorious moment in the sun, or to tarnish the image of a leadership eager for the Games to demonstrate the brilliance of its rule."

Come what may, though, the 2008 Beijing Games are almost upon us - it's not a question of whether anymore - so we might as well just settle down and enjoy them. We should just do our darndest to ensure that we gobble up every last bit of exciting action which we hope the broadcasters will be allowed to bring us without interference - the triumphs, the traumas, the joys, the lapses and also all the political interludes which the governmnet authorities in Beijing like or, as the case may be, don't like.

Before we get back into a depressing frame of mind contemplating all that can go wrong, we owe a grateful nod of thanks to the British Broadcasting Corporation's Alex Capstick for an engaging series on politics and the Olympics and for casting our minds back to a fine legacy that took root in the Games over 50 years ago.

It was Melbourne 1956 when there was plenty of politics about. The two Germanys, East and West, actually competed under the same specially designed flag with the famous five rings symbol and for the same anthem (as they did in only two subsequent Olympics).

But this was just after the Suez War and the Soviet invasion of Hungary aimed at quashing an uprising against Russian domination. Several countries boycotted and there were only 67 participating nations. Political tensions reached their depths in the swimming pool in what became known as the "Blood in the Water" water polo match, a bruising and brutal semifinal between Hungary and the Soviet Union (which the Hungarians won 4-3 and went on to take the gold medal).

World unification at Melbourne

There was also a Chinese boycott because of Taiwan being allowed to have a separate team, but it was a young Chinese apprentice carpenter living in Australia, one John Wing, 17, to whom we owe the credit for the inauguration of a dramatic new Olympic tradition. Despite the international tensions - or perhaps because of them - the young Melbournian came up with a new idea for the closing ceremony. Instead of marching as teams, behind their national flags, the athletes mingled with one another as they paraded into and around the arena for a final appearance before the spectators. The symbol of world unity has persisted ever since, offsetting the overenthusiastic nationalism which marks - some might well say, mars - the Games.

It was great to hear Wing, nearing 70 now, recalling his naive initiative - how he'd written a letter to the organizers with his idea. And how he'd not known until the morning after the Games closed when he read in the papers that the Olympic authorities had in fact acted on his innocent suggestion. At least he was subsequently given the credit.

While we are inclined to look at the glass as being half full and to begin to get ourselves into the mood to revel in the fortnight of great sporting action ahead - why not, I say, throw out another couple of hopeful suggestions in the vein of Master Wing; they too may yet ring through and influence the Olympic Games masters.