Pearce predicts football buzz 'off Richter scale'

Stuart Pearce has insisted the excitement surrounding the controversial Great Britain Olympic football team will be off the "Richter scale" come the start of the London Games. This year sees Britain, regarded as the host nation by the International Olympic Committee, entering the football tournament for the first time since 1960 but with major doubts over how many, if any, non-English players will be in Pearce's squad. Officials in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland fear signing up to a British team could be the start of a process that leads to their extinction as independent football nations despite assurances from world governing body FIFA their separate soccer identities will continue to be respected. And with the lucrative English Premier League due to start a week after the final, questions remain as to whether top clubs will release players, especially as European champions Barcelona established four years ago that national associations had no right to select their staff as the Olympics falls outside the standard 'window' for international football. But former England defender Pearce, currently combining his Olympic role with that of England Under-21 coach and caretaker boss of the full national team following Fabio Capello's resignation, was adamant Wednesday the effect of hosting a tournament would have a huge impact upon a seemingly apathetic public. "Euro 96 was one of the most exciting experiences I ever had," Pearce, speaking at the Soccerex conference in Manchester, said Wednesday. "Playing any tournament on home soil, the interest goes off the Richter scale," he added. "I am sure the players will want to be part of it. "The more meetings I have been to with the BOA (British Olympic Association), the more excited I am," Pearce said. "I understand that one or two of the (national football) associations are a little bit nervous but FIFA have waylaid that."