Football icon Zlatan Ibrahimovic may yet be appearing in the Rio 2016 Olympic football tournament. Hakan Ericson, the coach of Sweden's Olympic side, has included the legendary striker in his provisional squad for the competition.

Sweden have been drawn into a group with Nigeria, Colombia and Japan. They will begin their campaign against Colombia in the Amazônia Stadium in Manaus on 4 August, the day before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

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Ibrahimovic has been selected to Sweden's 35-man provisional squad. In mid-July, the final 18-man squad will be named.

Men's Olympic football is played by teams made up mainly of players aged under 23, but each squad may choose a maximum of three players born before 1 January 1993.

Ibrahmovic, who is 34 years old, is currently captaining Sweden in the European Championship in France.

“In the initial phase we felt that those playing the Euros can’t double up, but I’ve had a talk with Zlatan,” Ericson told Reuters.

“It could be a new phase in his career, and Zlatan has said that he is willing to wait until after the Euros [to decide]. I want to keep open the tiniest gap that might exist, because it would be fantastic to bring Zlatan.”

Ibrahimovic has played 114 times for the national side, scoring 62 goals, four of them in one match against England.

Ericson has made no secret of his wish to bring Ibrahimovic to Rio. Ibrahimovic himself has said it would be "awesome" to play in Rio 2016.

Ibrahimovic, who has announced he is leaving Paris Saint-Germain, is widely expected to join Manchester United after the European Championship. That may make it hard for him to compete in the Olympic Games, as the English Premier League will begin during Rio 2016.