Originally Posted by iggle (Post 12026499)

..... Would you route for me ....

Originally Posted by iggle (Post 12026499)

So here is this hypothetical situation.

• I am a none EU citizen
• At the age of 13 I move to UK, cant speak English and get tax payers education and free healthcare. My family have never paid into this.
• I am very gifted at sport, so my coach pays for me to get a British passport to get around visa's.
• I am now a British citizen
• After using and abusing the British passport, I now move to USA, to train

Would you route for me when i compete for Britain?

Also i don't like meat, and will make smug adverts telling you I don't like meat.

Originally Posted by jam25mack (Post 12026932)

MO Farah at a guess...

Originally Posted by christmasoompa (Post 12026948)

Unlikely, given that Mo Farah moved to the UK when aged 8, his father is a Brit, and he only moved to the US a few years ago, after he'd lived in the UK for decades. So he's a Brit through and through, and naturally most Brits would root (or 'route' as the OP would say) for him.

So either the OP is referring in a peculiar manner to somebody else, or he's just got his facts wrong and is on a slightly racist wind up for no reason. :lol:

Originally Posted by iggle (Post 12026955)

I don't care that Mo's dad was born in London, he's not British.

I give you an example. I live in UAE, I have a child, its born here. Is that child an Emariati? No. The child is and always will be British.

Originally Posted by Dorothy (Post 12026969)

These two statements contradict each other. So Mo's father was British but Mo's not. Your child was born to a British father but he's British. :confused:

Originally Posted by Inselaffen (Post 12026988)

Think Iggle just doesn't like Africa after his recent trip. must have got crabs from a local professional.

Originally Posted by iggle (Post 12026990)

haha - I am not a Trump supporter in anyway

Actually I love Africa. I much prefer it to Asia. He got a British passport for visa reasons only. That makes him a mercenary. Big Mo who is fantastic athlete should represent Somalia where he is born, raised and is from.

Originally Posted by Inselaffen (Post 12027017)

what about Chris Froome? Born and raised in Kenya

Originally Posted by Meow (Post 12027035)

I am not watching but every athlete has to be linked to a country and there are medal tables for country. I thought much of it was nationalistic pride?

Are there transgender athletes? Or are you referring to "East German" types?

Originally Posted by Inselaffen (Post 12027060)

One is effectively Transgender. She/He was forced to take testosterone reducing drugs to compete as a woman. During that time she/he was an also ran. The rules setting a maximum testosterone level were then jilted and she/he came back to her/his old winning ways.

Originally Posted by Norm_uk (Post 12027074)

This needs to be framed.

1. British by citizenship.
2. British by ethnicity.
3. British by culture.

Mo Farah is certainly the first and certainly not the second.

The third is probably where this debate lies.

N.

Originally Posted by Meow (Post 12027035)

I am not watching but every athlete has to be linked to a country and there are medal tables for country. I thought much of it was nationalistic pride?

Are there transgender athletes? Or are you referring to "East German" types?

Originally Posted by Millhouse (Post 12027089)

There are a couple of hermaphroditis this year in amongst the female runners. Even the most lefty of the lefts must recognize that this isn't quite fair.

Originally Posted by IKnowNothing (Post 12027093)

Aren't they not allowed to enter the race (men's or women's) that they most associate themselves with?

Originally Posted by Millhouse (Post 12027089)

There are a couple of hermaphroditis this year in amongst the female runners. Even the most lefty of the lefts must recognize that this isn't quite fair.

Originally Posted by Norm_uk (Post 12027081)

He's a British citizen by descent. He is not ethnically British by descent obviously.

This fact does seem to make some people very uncomfortable - acknowledging there are ethnic Britons (English, Irish, Scots, Welsh etc) who are descendents of people who have been in the Isles since the end of the last Ice Age.

It's not racist to simply acknowledge this fact of biology. No more than it's racist to say ethnic Emiratis are Arabs.

However the British government does not grant citizenship on the basis of ethnicity, which is a separate thing to being ethnically or culturally British.

It's all very confusing but let's not rush to accuse people of racism or 'islamophobia' (Islam isn't a race it's a religion, not limited to any race) because some people are clearly not rooting for non-ethnic/non-cultural Britons.

Some people simply don't accept any and all as fellow Britons just because they hold citizenship. As long as there are no calls for violence, hatred or maltreatment they can, in what is barely still a free society express that view even if we don't like it.

N.

Originally Posted by Meow (Post 12027115)

As you and I both know what makes the difference is how such enquiries are framed. It is possible to express thoughts in a rational way and others all but froth at the mouth. You are in the former category but I am sure we have all seen examples of the latter. I rally don't know why such types get so het up though.

Originally Posted by Meow (Post 12027035)

I am not watching but every athlete has to be linked to a country and there are medal tables for country. I thought much of it was nationalistic pride?

Originally Posted by iggle (Post 12027116)

I dunno either, it's only a pigment colour. I am just trolling.

Originally Posted by Meow (Post 12027105)

This is complicated and I have no idea what the answer is. Life is rough enough if a person is born hermaphrodite though.

Originally Posted by Lightandbitter (Post 12027199)

Is that a climb down Iggle?

If you had a pair of balls they would be in your mouth about now

Originally Posted by Norm_uk (Post 12027235)

I do wonder about that as the purpose of the Olympics is for each nation on earth to come together and compete peacefully and fairly in the hopes of fostering better understanding and co-operation between different peoples.


N.

Originally Posted by Millhouse (Post 12027210)

Personally I would look to David Brent in this situation. He would know what to say.

Originally Posted by iggle (Post 12027508)

Born and Bred in Somilia, so he's the greatest Somalian Athlete, with a British Passport that lives in USA. See I have compromised.

Originally Posted by Bahtatboy (Post 12027540)

Only the English language.

Originally Posted by iggle (Post 12027562)

Maybe I've lived here to long. Looks like UAE agrees with me

Sergiu Toma’s medal triggers national debate on Twitter | GulfNews.com

Mo should run for Somalia.