British Olympic officials would strongly resist any demands by the Democratic Unionist Party to force them to change the name Team GB to Team UK in the wake of the general election result, claiming it could prevent them sending a team to Tokyo 2020.
The DUP, Northern Ireland’s largest unionist political party, called for the rebranding in its manifesto, claiming it would offer greater recognition of the country’s contribution to Olympic success.
With the party poised to support a Conservative minority government after the shock election result, they may be in a stronger position to advance parts of their manifesto entitled “recognition of Northern Ireland”.
However, the British Olympic Association are determined to hold on to the Team GB branding, insisting that any change of name could hamper its ability to raise funds and even prevent it sending a team to future Olympic Games.
The DUP lobbied unsuccessfully for the name change before London 2012, arguing that Team GB failed to recognise the role played by athletes originating from outside Great Britain. The party’s manifesto stated: “The Olympic team should be referred to as Team UK and the freedom for athletes to choose their national team.”
Rory McIlroy planned to represent the Republic of Ireland at the Rio Olympics last summer before pulling out at the last minute over fears about the Zika virus.
The BOA insist Team GB is an abbreviation of Team Great Britain and Northern Ireland and is simply the most effective moniker to trade internationally. It is not a strictly accurate name because it also fails to take into account the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands and British overseas territories including the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar which do not have their own national Olympic committees.
But it is understood an extensive period of consultation was undertaken with national governing bodies of many sports and athlete representatives before agreeing on Team GB as a moniker.
A BOA spokesman said: “The British Olympic Association is incredibly proud of its heritage across not just the United Kingdom but all of its dependant territories, and we absolutely recognise the contribution made by all of those countries and territories to both the Olympic movement and the team’s successes. This will continue to be the case as we use the mark Team GB in line with the historical recognition of “GBR” by the IOC.”
