Quote:
Originally Posted by Matty81
... You have to live in a country for 5 years to represent them if you are an immigrant even if you have citizenship. Yet if someone acquired citizenship through a parent you don't even have to set foot in that country. ..
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I think you are incorrect here. I think as long as you have a passport then you can represent the country (of course you haven't represent other countries at the senior level). I recalled many instances where governments rushed passport applications for players (e.g. Olisedabe for Poland, and countless other lower-level Brazilian and British players play for the likes of Hong Kong and other minnows).
What actually stupid is the Olympic rule where athletes can switch representing countries anytime they want to. So you sometimes see the likes of Saudi's and Qatar buying athletes to get medals...