Should athletes be cap-tied to a national team in general or should mobility to other national teams be the norm for all sports?

[Buzz Rules]

Should athletes be cap-tied to a national team in general or should mobility to other national teams be the norm for all sports? For those who are confused for what I’m asking let me explain. In soccer if you play for a national team in a competitive competition (ex. World Cup, Gold Cup, Euros, Copa America, etc.) the player is permanently tied to that federations team. Meaning they can’t play for another national team ever again even if they have more than citizenship at the time or later after the cap-tying (with very little exceptions). I know in sports like tennis and baseball, athletes are pretty much allowed to change national allegiance in competitions if they hold citizenship for those nations. So my question is should cap-tying be adopted in the other sports as well or should cap-tying be abolished and give athletes more freedom to choose? Thanks.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cap-tied

 

[Buzz Rules]

Should athletes be cap-tied to a national team in general or should mobility to other national teams be the norm for all sports? For those who are confused for what I’m asking let me explain. In soccer if you play for a national team in a competitive competition (ex. World Cup, Gold Cup, Euros, Copa America, etc.) the player is permanently tied to that federations team. Meaning they can’t play for another national team ever again even if they have more than citizenship at the time or later after the cap-tying (with very little exceptions). I know in sports like tennis and baseball, athletes are pretty much allowed to change national allegiance in competitions if they hold citizenship for those nations. So my question is should cap-tying be adopted in the other sports as well or should cap-tying be abolished and give athletes more freedom to choose? Thanks.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cap-tied

Are there any new thoughts on the subject for 2024 given the many international tournaments happening this summer?

 

[Brian Noble]

I don't think it matters. Almost none of them have the visibility and financial impact of the World Cup.

 

[Buzz Rules]

I don't think it matters. Almost none of them have the visibility and financial impact of the World Cup.

Olympics, Cricket WC, Copa America, Euros?

 

[Brian Noble]

From what I can tell, a single cycle of the world cup (a single sport) generates 2x the revenue of the entire summer Olympics, across all sports.

Don't care. Let the governing bodies decide how they want to. FINA just increased residency requirement from one year to three, which fine I guess?

 

[Buzz Rules]

From what I can tell, a single cycle of the world cup (a single sport) generates 2x the revenue of the entire summer Olympics, across all sports.

Don't care. Let the governing bodies decide how they want to. FINA just increased residency requirement from one year to three, which fine I guess?

My point is that I think international sports tournaments should have the same rules in terms of eligibility across the board regardless of revenue.

 

[Brian Noble]

I disagree. Why is it not acceptable to let the governing bodies for each sport decide?

 

[Buzz Rules]

I disagree. Why is it not acceptable to let the governing bodies for each sport decide?

I just feel it should be a uniform rule for all international teams.

 

[Brian Noble]

Yes. You’ve said that.

 

[Buzz Rules]

Yes. You’ve said that.

Part of reasoning is that some athletes just play for a country because they think they will earn more money based on the publicity that country's media could provide. It becomes more about money rather than playing for the honor of that country.

 

[Brian Noble]

playing for the honor of that country

That's adorable.

 

[Buzz Rules]

That's adorable.

That's was the original message and point of these tournaments. If that doesn't matter, then all these tournaments should just be discontinued.

 

[Brian Noble]

See, what you are doing is not participating in a discussion, but rather repeating an opinion.

I understand your point, but then again I also think that citizenship is a much more loosely-defined idea than many might. When my kids finish their doctorates, they may work in a US university, or they may work elsewhere. They may move to another university in another country later in their career. If they start teaching at Vrije* in the Netherlands but move to EPFL and later become citizens (no easy feat) are they any less Swiss because of the first job?

And, given the fairly loose rules for acquiring your cap-tie in FIFA to begin with, it's hard to say we aren't already chasing something other than (IMO over-rated) national pride.

---------
One of my colleagues is from Brooklyn NY, trained at MIT, and spent his career at Vrije. He was fond of saying that the Netherlands never really needed passports, because there is no other reason why anyone might speak Dutch with a correct accent but to live there.

 

[Brian Noble]

On the subject of it being over-rated:

I teach at Michigan. I know many people at Ohio State. They are perfectly lovely and I like spending time with them. But we are supposed to bitterly hate each other. Tribalism for the win, I guess.