Phil Neville to see out England Women contract but no decision on Olympics | Football

Phil Neville’s future as Team GB manager hangs in the balance after the Football Association confirmed his departure in 2021.

The FA released a statement on Friday saying the former Manchester United player was “committed to honouring the full term of his contract with the FA, which will see him leave the role in July 2021”.

The problem is that the Olympics are set to start on 23 July 2021 and finish on 8 August. Neville, the England Women’s manager, had been due to take charge of Team GB in Tokyo.

The FA’s director of women’s football, Sue Campbell said: “In light of the impact of current global events on the sporting calendar and in the best interests of the England Women’s team, both parties were in agreement that our shared priority was to ensure the Lionesses have continuity of coaching going into the home Euro and looking towards the 2023 Fifa World Cup.

“Once football returns after this difficult period, Phil will continue his work with the Lionesses on the further development of his squad. I will support him fully with that important task whilst moving forward with the crucial succession planning process.

“We will now discuss next steps with the British Olympic Association and the home nations with regard to Team GB Football and we are not in a position to make any further comment at this time.”

Neville said: “As a result of the changes to the proposed tournament scheduling we will now be working to plan for a revised match calendar once it is safe and appropriate to do so. I am looking forward to getting back to work with the team as soon as possible. We have a fantastic squad of players and there is plenty to work on as we look to progress as a team going into 2021.”