ATHLETICS: Transfers of allegiance to win medals overstated

A recent study in the academic journal Citizenship Studies examined the transfer of allegiance crisis in track & field. The paper, by three scholars at Erasmus University in Rotterdam (NED), is entitled “Nationality swapping in the Olympic field: towards the marketization of citizenship?”

After examining 167 cases in track & field from 1948-2016, the authors noted a huge increase in transfers for the 1996-2000-2004-2008 Olympic Games and less in 2012 and 2016. But a breakdown of the reasons for the changes in nationality showed that the largest number of cases came from athletes who changed to the country in which they now lived (vs. where they were born), or of the nationality of their spouse.

Their conclusion: “Acquiring citizenship via the explicit market principle of jus talenti is conceived of as more prevalent than ever. Our strategic selection, however, indicates that in reality only a few nationality switches in the 11 countries we studied were the outcome of a purely instrumental talent-for-citizenship exchange between athletes and states between whom no prior connection existed.”