Micah Richards has said he has no regrets about turning down an England call-up to play for Team GB at the London Olympics, even though he never played for his country again. The former Manchester City defender rejected Roy Hodgson's offer to be on the standby list for Euro 2012, choosing instead to represent Team GB at the Games.
Richards' Decision Explained
Richards, now 38, admitted he may have cost himself his international career, but he would not have changed the decision that allowed him to live out his dream. He said at the time: "It was one of those. Do I go on standby or play in the Olympics? I wanted to go and play under [Stuart] Pearce as I knew him from here at City."
"It was a decision I made, people will always think negatively about it. But, from my point of view, we'd won the league that year and the FA Cup the season before. Kyle Walker got injured and I was still being asked to go only on standby."
He added: "Was I wrong for making the decision? Maybe. But I wanted to play in the Olympics. It was a once-in-a-lifetime chance and I enjoyed it. It was one of the best times of my life. I still want to play for my country, everyone does. But what can I do now?"
International Career Aftermath
Glen Johnson and Martin Kelly went to Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine instead, with England falling in the quarter-finals after a 4-2 penalty shootout defeat to Italy. Later that summer, Richards suffered a last-eight exit at the Olympics with Team GB too, having played every game in the tournament before Pearce's side lost to South Korea on penalties (4-5).
Richards maintained a glimmer of hope that a return to the England set-up was still possible, but it never happened. His 13th and final cap remained a friendly in February 2012 against the Netherlands.
He explained: "All I can do is play well. People ask me the question about getting back in the England squad and I think, 'I won the FA Cup and then the Premier League in 12 months and I still didn't get in.' So what can I do? I couldn't do any more than that."
Life After Football
Since retiring from football in 2019, Richards has become a prominent pundit on television and covered the Three Lions during their third-place finish at the World Cup 2026 this past summer.
The former City and Aston Villa defender has been a popular figure on the airwaves, but revealed in July that he has a plan to step away from broadcasting in the future. He told The Telegraph he aims to leave mainstream media by the time he's 46 and won't work beyond the World Cup 2034.
He doubled down on his stance when speaking to The Times last week, as he confirmed: "By then I'll have been 15 years a player and 15 years a pundit and what more could I ask for?"
"So it'll be, 'What can I give back to the game?' I don't want to work past my sell-by date. Fifteen years, whether you like me or hate me, that's enough time to get across my point. There'll be someone else on the sofa by then."
