Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester United manager, has poured cold water on the prospect of the home nations combining to form a Great Britain football team for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Although the English FA is in favour of the move, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland fear that participation in a Britain team would threaten their independence, with Fifa, the sport’s world governing body, eventually forcing the four nations to merge and play under one banner.

Ferguson has been championed by Lord Coe, the chairman of the London organising committee for 2012, as the leading choice to coach a Britain team, but as well as playing down the chances of that happening, the United manager, a fiercely patriotic Scot, was dismissive of the idea of the home nations joining forces.

“I’m not sure they [the different national associations] would allow it,” Ferguson said. “Countries have their own identity, their own patriotism. It has been mooted for a number of years by Fifa at the World Cup that Great Britain has a team. It would be impractical in that sense. Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, even England, all have their own identities, so I don’t think it is a starter.”

Having indicated that he will retire as United manager in two years, Ferguson would probably be available to coach a Britain team if the idea got off the ground, but he refused to commit yesterday and pointed out that age could be a factor.

Ferguson will be six months short of his 70th birthday by the time the Olympics are staged in London. Speaking during United’s pre-season tour to South Africa, Ferguson said: “I hope I’m still on this planet in 2012 first of all. I don’t need any commitment to anything like that.”

United play their third and final match of the Vodacom Challenge against Kaizer Chiefs at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria this afternoon before embarking on a 5½ hour flight to Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, 3,000 miles away for an exhibition match against Portsmouth tomorrow evening.

Ferguson acknowledged that money is a motivating factor behind the fleeting visit to Nigeria — United stand to earn at least £1.5 million from the trip, even though they will be in the country for only a matter of hours — although the manager will hope that the decision does not backfire through injuries.

“We have never been to Nigeria,” he said. “You could say it is partly financial, of course. We have to take that into consideration because we have a big operation. The squad is 23-24 players now and it has to be a well-run club to be able to afford all that.”

United are close to appointing a foreign replacement for Tony Coton, the goalkeeping coach, who retired this summer because of knee problems. His successor is expected to be named next week.

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