Comparing Citizenship and Naturalization Policies in International Sports
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Jorn Schulting 382514 Governance of Migration & Diversity: Public Administration Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences Erasmus University Rotterdam GMD Thesis 34779 words Comparing citizenship and naturalization policies in international sports The case of the 2019 Asian Football Cup Jorn Schulting August 2019 Jorn Erik Schulting Master Thesis Governance of Migration & Diversity: Public Administration Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences Erasmus University Rotterdam August 2019 Student number: 382514 Contact: [email protected] Reference style: APA Supervisor: Peter Scholten Second reader: Nathan Levy 2 Table of Content List of abbreviations 9 Introduction 10 1. Theoretical framework 13 1.1 Theoretical framework 13 1.1.1 Citizenship regimes concerning foreign-born athletes 17 1.1.1.1. Citizenship law characteristics 18 1.1.1.2. Special provisions for athletes? 19 1.1.1.3. Strategies used for attracting foreign-born athletes 19 1.1.1.4. Alternative form of citizenship for athletes? 20 1.1.1.5. Mandatory change of athlete’s name? 21 1.1.1.6. Mandatory movement of an athlete to the “new” country? 21 1.1.1.7. Preference of attraction of athletes with specific geographical, religious or linguistic backgrounds? 22 1.1.1.8. Level of “Thickness” of citizenship 23 1.2 What is missing? 23 2. Research Design 25 2.1 Operationalization 25 2.2 Methodology 29 2.2.1 Data collection 29 3 2.2.1.1. Quantitative datasets 29 2.2.1.2. Other sources 30 2.3 Case selection 30 2.3.1 Substantiation of the case selection 31 2.3.2 Jus soli limitation in case selection 33 2.3.3 Beyond jus sanguinis in the Philippines, Qatar, Vietnam and Lebanon 33 2.4 Ethical considerations 34 3. Switching allegiance in international football and the AFC Asian Cup 35 3.1 Confederations and international tournaments 36 3.2. Rules and regulations of national team eligibility 38 3.2.1. FIFA eligibility rules into perspective: the IAAF as an example 43 3.3 AFC and the Asian Cup 45 3.3.1 2019 Asian Cup 47 3.4 Conclusion 49 4. The Philippines 51 4.1. Introduction 51 4.2. Analysis citizenship regime and naturalization policies of the Philippines on foreign-born athletes 52 4.2.1. Countries of origin players Philippine squad 2019 Asian Cup 53 4.2.2. Average age foreign-born players Philippine Squad 2019 Asian Cup 54 4 4.2.3. Eight criteria analysis citizenship regime and naturalization policies on foreign-born athletes in the Philippines 55 4.2.3.1. Citizenship law characteristics 55 4.2.3.2. Special provisions for athletes? 57 4.2.3.3. Strategies used for attracting foreign-born athletes 57 4.2.3.4. Alternative form of citizenship for athletes? 60 4.2.3.5. Mandatory change of athlete’s name? 61 4.2.3.6. Mandatory movement of the athlete to “new” country? 61 4.2.3.7. Preference of attraction of athletes with specific geographical, religious or linguistic backgrounds? 61 4.2.3.8. Level of “thickness” of citizenship 62 4.3 Conclusion 63 5. Qatar 65 5.1. Introduction 65 5.2. Analysis citizenship regime and naturalization policies of Qatar on foreign-born athletes 67 5.2.1. Countries of origin players Qatari squad 2019 Asian Cup 67 5.2.2. Average age foreign-born players Qatari squad 2019 Asian Cup 68 5.2.3. Eight criteria analysis citizenship regime and naturalization policies on foreign-born athletes in Qatar 68 5.2.3.1. Citizenship law characteristics 69 5.2.3.2. Special provisions for athletes? 70 5.2.3.3. Strategies used for attracting foreign-born athletes 71 5.2.3.4. Alternative form of citizenship for athletes? 73 5.2.3.5. Mandatory change of athlete’s name? 73 5 5.2.3.6. Mandatory movement of the athlete to “new” country? 74 5.2.3.7. Preference of attraction of athletes with specific geographical, religious or linguistic backgrounds? 74 5.2.3.8. Level of “thickness” of citizenship 75 5.3 Conclusion 76 6. Vietnam 78 6.1. Introduction 78 6.2. Analysis citizenship regime and naturalization policies of Qatar on foreign-born athletes 79 6.2.1. Countries of origin players Vietnamese squad 2019 Asian Cup and average age foreign-born players Vietnamese squad 2019 Asian Cup 80 6.2.2. Eight criteria analysis citizenship regime and naturalization policies on foreign-born athletes in Qatar 81 6.2.2.1. Citizenship law characteristics 81 6.2.2.2. Special provisions for athletes? 83 6.2.2.3. Strategies used for attracting foreign-born athletes 83 6.2.2.4. Alternative form of citizenship for athletes? 85 6.2.2.5. Mandatory change of athlete’s name? 85 6.2.2.6. Mandatory movement of the athlete to “new” country? 85 6.2.2.7. Preference of attraction of athletes with specific geographical, religious or linguistic backgrounds? 86 6.2.2.8. Level of “thickness” of citizenship 88 6.3 Conclusion 89 6 7. Lebanon 91 7.1. Introduction 91 7.2. Analysis citizenship regime and naturalization policies of Lebanon on foreign-born athletes 92 7.2.1. Countries of origin players Lebanese squad 2019 Asian Cup 93 7.2.2. Average age foreign-born players Lebanese squad 2019 Asian Cup 93 7.2.3. Eight criteria analysis citizenship regime and naturalization policies on foreign-born athletes in Lebanon 94 7.2.3.1. Citizenship law characteristics 94 7.2.3.2. Special provisions for athletes? 96 7.2.3.3. Strategies used for attracting foreign-born athletes 97 7.2.3.4. Alternative form of citizenship for athletes? 100 7.2.3.5. Mandatory change of athlete’s name? 100 7.2.3.6. Mandatory movement of the athlete to “new” country? 100 7.2.3.7. Preference of attraction of athletes with specific geographical, religious or linguistic backgrounds? 101 7.2.3.8. Level of “thickness” of citizenship 102 7.3 Conclusion 103 Conclusion 105 a. Summary and case comparison 105 b. Theoretical implications 114 c. Social relevance 116 d. Limitations and further research 117 7 References 119 Appendix A: Countries of origin 2019 Asian Cup 24 competing countries 129 Appendix B: Average age foreign-born football players 24 Asian Cup competing countries 142 8 List of abbreviations AFC = Asian Football Confederation ASEAN = Association of South East Asian Nations Football Federation CAF = Confédération Africaine de Football CAFA = Central Asian Football Association CFO = Commisson on Filipinos Overseas CONCACAF = Confederation of North and Central American and Caribbean Association Football CONMEBOL = Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol EAFF = East Asian Football Federation FA = (British) Football Association FIFA = Fédération Internationale de Football Association FINA = Fédération Internationale de Natation IAAF = International Association of Athletics Federations IOC = International Olympic Committee KNVB = Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond (Dutch Football Association) LFA = Lebanon Football Association OFC = Oceania Football Confederation PFF = Philippine Football Federation QFA = Qatar Football Association SAFF = South Asian Football Federation UEFA = Union of European Football Associations VFF = Vietnam Football Federation WAFF = West Asian Football Federation 9 Introduction In a more migratory world, national allegiances are becoming more fluid, affecting the architecture of national identity, pride and cohesion. Within the field of international sports, the environment of increasing switches of national allegiances is, therefore, one of the most applicable researchable fields of such a development, with the connection between the athlete and the country he or she is representing in international tournaments being blurred and less natural than before. Therefore, international sports federations all have their own rules and regulations stating under which circumstances an athlete is able to represent a nation and to what extent an athlete is able to switch his or her allegiance during their international sports career. Although the International Olympic Committee (IOC) might be experienced as the equivalent of the United Nations within the world of international sports, the umbrella organization leaves the decision-making processes on national allegiances up to the sports federations themselves. For example, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) decides who is allowed to represent a nation member state in international football, the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) is doing the same for athletes in track and field sports and the Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) has their own rules clarifying under which conditions international swimmers can compete for a nation in international tournaments. When taking international football as an example, one can notice many players who have represented multiple countries in international games in the past, with the legendary Ferenc Puskás who represented both Hungary and Spain and former Real Madrid icon Alfredo Di Stéfano representing Argentina, Colombia and Spain in his international football career. However, with the FIFA having their own regulations on national allegiances on the one hand, and national rules on citizenship and naturalization on the other, football players often struggle to fill in all the necessary requirements to be able to compete for the nation they wish to represent. For example, in 2004, the Ivorian Salomon Kalou tried to compete for the Netherlands during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, with the Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond (KNVB, the Dutch Football Association) accepting Kalou as one of their players (Vliegenberg, 2006). However, the Dutch minister of Immigration, Integration and Asylum Rita Verdonk decided different, declining Kalou’s request for naturalization. Besides, the decision of an athlete to represent a certain nation is not always accepted, as the concept of loyalty to the country they are born and raised in, is playing an important factor in the public sphere. This happened, for instance, when Mesut Ozil and Ilkay Gundogan, as players of the 10 national German football squad, took a picture with Turkish president Erdogan, leading to a lot of controversy in the German press, stating that the players were giving the wrong example when promoting their loyalty to the Turkish state instead of Germany (Olterman, 2018).