TWO members of the British Paralympic blind football team have had their sporting dreams shattered because of a political row.

Nick Killen, aged 18, and Andrew Briant, 17 - both pupils at the RNIB New College, in Whittington Road, Worcester - had qualified to take part in the first ever blind football tournament in the Athens Paralympics, which began last night.

But, football chiefs in Scotland and Wales stepped in to stop the pair, and the rest of the team, from taking part.

The associations from the two countries refused to allow the team, all members of which are from England, to play as Great Britain.

For Nick, who had to have both eyes removed due to a rare form of cancer, the news has been a double blow.

He is among the top blind judo players in the country, but selectors told him that, at just 18, they felt he was too young to compete this time.

"I am disappointed and frustrated that we are not there," he said.

"It is a real shame that, after we qualified to take part, we are not allowed to."

But the sportsman has vowed to bounce back and achieve a rare sporting feat in four years' time.

He wants to qualify for the next Paralympics in Beijing in both judo and football.

"In four years, with the right training, I'll definitely be aiming to play football in the Paralympics," he added. "And I don't see why I can't make the judo team as well."

The boys' PE teacher, Clive Spencer, thought the decision by the football associations was unfair

"It's very sad. The team won the right to be in Athens, but because of a discrepancy with the FAs, they are not," he said.

David Collins, the secretary general of the FA of Wales, said the associations had always taken a stance that they would not take part in the Olympic football event.

"We maintain our individuality," he said. "It is true of the Olympics and it is true of any side that purports to represent Great Britain as footballers."