2022 Commonwealth Games

[MaryClare]

There are still tickets available

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Can’t seem to get more than one for AA which is the only day I could’ve done, never mind. Thank you for the heads up though, I appreciate you thinking of me.

 

[MaryClare]

I think there’s only single seats left

 

[Bob]

There is a resale in May of tickets people bought in the ballot and no longer want. There should be some available then.

 

[RAFIKI]

Commonwealth Games: McClenaghan blasts decision to block NI gymnasts from Games

Gymnast Rhys McClenaghan is told he will not be permitted to defend his pommel horse gold medal at this summer's Commonwealth Games.

www.bbc.co.uk

This is pretty shocking. Why has the FIG suddenly made this decision?

 

[Bob]

I read it is something to do with them representing Ireland for FIG competitions that NI don’t go to. I suppose they think you can’t keep swapping but they have always had a special ruling. Not sure why they have done that now and not before. Unless it is related to the tightening of the swapping rules after the Belamerican saga.

 

[Caledi]

Surely that should be a problem for the British gymnasts too – they compete for GB in most meets but England/Wales/Scotland for the Commonwealth Games, right? Or is it because Ireland has a team in the Commonwealth Games and GB doesn’t, that the rules are different for those two cases?

 

[RAFIKI]

Rhys competed for Ireland before he won 2018 CWG PH gold. Baffling change given precedents (other federation policies and previous FIG policy). Also painfully close to the competition.

 

[Gymfan93]

I had to look it up, but the last time Ireland (Republic of) competed at the CWG was in 1938. They are not members of the commonwealth of nations either. NI is, as a home nation of the UK, which is obviously a politically sensitive issue.

 

[MaryClare]

It’s not. Those are countries of GB. It’s the same as an Irish athlete trying to represent Scotland for CWGs.

Yes, if you are born in NI you are entitled to both British and Irish citizenship, but you are no different from any other dual national. For international sporting purposes, you have to pick one

 

[Gymfan93]

I found the selection policy for NI (Well, it’s for WAG, but I assume it’s the same).
They must hold either an Irish or British citizenship. I think that the CWG are slightly different. I had a quick look at their bylaws, and the only clash I could see if they are dual nationals of two CW nations. I think it’s completely within the rules of the CWG, so FIG is the one with the issue.

 

[MaryClare]

It is within the rules of the CWGs, they don’t have an issue with it. It’s happening across every other sport. The issue is with the FIG, who are considering it a country swap. They are entitled to take that stance, as it’s technically correct.

 

[Bob]

This is completely correct. Ireland is not in the CW. NI is.

Athletes want to compete for Ireland if they can’t get in GB team for things like Worlds and Olympics and other National FIG events. (NI is part of GB for such events)

Then they want to swap back to NI so they can go to the CWG. Because Ireland isn’t part of the CW.

On paper it does seem lucicrous that they can swap countries every few years. The more I think about it the more I agree with FIG. Choose your allegiance and stick to it. But it is allowed under CWG rules. Maybe it needs changing. If CWG is held under FIG rules they should abide by them.

 

[RAFIKI]

This is the former (2017-20) Taoiseach (head of Irish government).

 

[Bob]

actually that is not the issue.
The FIG supports that.
The issue is the swapping between.
Which is clearly allowed under CWG criteria but not under FIG

 

[RAFIKI]

Rhys competed for Ireland at junior Euros and I think his FIG license has always been IRL. In 2018 he competed at CWG for NI in the spring and Euros/worlds for IRL.

The FIG should have brought this up before he competed at his first CWG. Changing the rules now feels extremely unfair. I know they want to clamp down on switching, but the switch has already happened with the 2018 CWG.

I know this doesn’t just affect Rhys, but I don’t know the other gymnast’s circumstances.

 

[J175]

The problem seems to be that the FIG are treating “Northern Irish” as a subset of “British”. This is a fundamentally wrong interpretation of the situation.

The Northern Ireland team across all Commonwealth Games sports is made up of athletes who share an eligibility to represent Northern Ireland, regardless of whether they choose to represent Ireland or GB at other events (for practical reasons, usually Ireland - apparently the team would be almost wiped out if other sports followed the FIGs lead). An athlete who competes for Northern Ireland makes no claim to compete for GB. Talk of switching countries is no more relevant to this situation than it is for an athlete competing for GB and Northern Ireland, or GB and England.

The FIG appear to be saying you can be Northern Irish and British, but not Northern Irish and Irish. That is an extremely offensive position to a lot of people.

 

[MaryClare]

The situation is not any different than any other dual national situation. People from NI can be British and Irish, but it doesn’t give any entitlement to represent both countries simultaneously and sports governing bodies are within their rights to decide their own rules about representation. The GFA does not cover athletic representation, only citizenship.

It is unfair on the athletes, but the FIG is not wrong in its interpretation. Chusovitina remains a German-Uzbek dual national, but she can’t just represent Germany because she wants to compete at euros.

 

[Gymfan93]

I can see the FIGs point, but I can also see why people are upset, as NI is a very sensitive subject for a lot of people.

However, I think making the decision this close to the games is just baffling. Why so close?

 

[J175]

No one is trying to represent both countries simultaneously. Representing Northern Ireland is NOT representing Great Britain. Competing for Northern Ireland and Ireland is no more representing two countries than competing for Northern Ireland and Great Britain is (and the FIG are apparently OK with that). Either the FIG accept that or they are taking a prejudiced and discriminatory position in opposition to the GFA.