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By Mark Ledsom
ZURICH, July 30 (Reuters) - World soccer's governing body FIFA has told clubs they must release any players aged under 23 selected for next month's Beijing Olympics after rejecting a protest by three German and Spanish teams.
In a statement issued to the clubs and the media on Wednesday, FIFA said Players' Status Committee member Slim Aloulou had ruled as a single judge that the release of players was mandatory for all clubs.
German Bundesliga sides Werder Bremen and Schalke 04, and Spain's FC Barcelona had argued against the need to release players because the Olympics were not included on FIFA's international match calendar.
"The single judge determined that the international match calendar is not of relevance in establishing whether clubs are obliged to release players," FIFA said in its statement.
