Olympics-Soccer-Footballers left out on a limb

By Brian Homewood

BEIJING, Aug 12 (Reuters) - The imposing Bird's Nest stadium is nothing more than a television image for most of the Olympic footballers, who are isolated in venues hundreds of kilometres from the heart of the action.

Most teams had to miss the opening ceremony and only a few will have the unique experience of staying in the Olympic village. For some, it feels like just another age-restricted football tournament.

The only sport which actively prevents its top athletes from participating in China, football is in some ways the ugly duckling of the Games.

To avoid rivalling the sport's own World Cup, governing body FIFA has imposed an age limit of 23 with three overage players allowed per team.

Most matches have been scattered around four other venues -- Tianjin, Qinhuangdao, Shenyang and Shanghai.

Of the handful which are being played in Beijing, only the final will be at the Bird's Nest -- and the decision to go for a midday kick off in the notoriously stifling Beijing summer clearly suggests that organisers' priorities lie elsewhere.

"We're not really living the atmosphere of the Olympics," said Italy midfielder Riccardo Montolivo whose team have been based in Qinhuangdao, a city of towering blocks and belching chimneys.

Serbia, based in distant Shanghai, were among the many teams who missed the opening ceremony.