<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Bulls forward Luol Deng will travel to England in early August to try to resolve a problem obtaining a British passport. Deng needs the passport to join the British national team, which hopes to receive an automatic bid for the 2012 Olympics in London. The passport has been held up because Deng has spent most of the last five years outside Great Britain, where his family fled from war-torn Sudan and obtained refugee status in 1994. "I am extremely committed to British basketball and Britain,'' Deng told The Times of London. "It is the only country I will play for. ... Britain took in my family and I when we were forced to leave the Sudan, and the country has given us all a lot. I want to give something back and represent Britain on the basketball court and off it.''</div> Source I think it would be a great experience for Deng to play for Great Britain's National team. Ben Gordon is also eligible to play for Great Britain, and hopefully he signs up to play alongside Luol Deng. Two other potential players could be Richard Midgely (Cal Bears) and Eric Boateng (Duke).
Our team is like the United Nations we have so many people from different cultures; it’s great to see the diversity. I read another article stating that both play to play; these would be two great additions for the Great Britain team. It could make them a force in the 08’ Olympics.
Man we could have our whole core playing for the Olympics in the future. Noch is already playing and has his gold medal. Hinrich could make it to the Olympic team in 08 and now Deng and Gordon. Who knows if Thabo plays for Switzerland, if they have a team.
This nice to hear... I don't think Gordon stayed there long, so I don't know if he'll play, but I heard he's interested. So Gordon can never play for the U.S.A can he? Because he was born in London? Because he moved here right after birth..
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting SP23:</div><div class="quote_post">This nice to hear... I don't think Gordon stayed there long, so I don't know if he'll play, but I heard he's interested. So Gordon can never play for the U.S.A can he? Because he was born in London? Because he moved here right after birth..</div> I?m not sure how it works in basketball, but normally in other sports (such as World Cup) once a player is naturalized as a citizen of the country, he can then participate/represent the country in Olympics/international events if selected.
I believe Ben still has the England citizenship so that's what matters. He will only be able to play for England's National team unless he applies for United States citizenship. Then in this case he will be able to play for the US national team instead. This is not an easy process no matter how much money or fame you have. The system is rough, believe me my family, my girlfriend, and myself have gone through it enough. It's much easier to gain duel or permanent citizenship if you have family in another country. For instance Juventus' Mauro Camoranesi was born in Argentina but has Italian family in Italy and he was able to gain citizenship. There are many examples of duel citizenship in the sports world like Ronaldo and Axel Konan. I remember when Johan petro was drafted there was so much dispute and problems trying to get him to stay in the US. He had to go back to France several times due to problems with working visa applications by the Sonics. Luol Deng joining England, given that he can, would be a great improvement to their National roster. Adding Ben Gordon would also be a big help and make the team a competitive one. I'd like to see it happen, but we'll find out if Deng is able to gain the opportunity as he did live in the country for quite some time if I recall.
that would be interesting if they both played for brittain. I wonder what kind of numbers they would put up?
I posted something before about our multi-national team. There was something like 6 players born elsewhere. Gordon, Deng, Nocioni, Krappa, Schenscher, Sefolosha and maybe some others.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting SP23:</div><div class="quote_post">So Gordon can never play for the U.S.A can he? Because he was born in London? Because he moved here right after birth..</div> Well Steve Nash was born in South Africa apparentley, and he plays for Canada, so I suppose he could play for the U.S if he really wanted.
Yeah, sorry, I wasn't stating it as a fact, I was just asking if that was true.. I guess not then, it seems like it's where you have citizenship, and if you have more than one, I guess you can pick which team to play for.
Oh ok, well I didnt percieve it as that, lol. I was just telling you the case with Nash to answer your question.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting NTC187:</div><div class="quote_post">Well Steve Nash was born in South Africa apparentley, and he plays for Canada, so I suppose he could play for the U.S if he really wanted.</div> It's a bit more complicated than that. Nash has Canadian Citiznehsip and spenthte majority of his life there. It's not like he can pick up and move there. I believe the rules on International teams vary from sport to sport. But in general I think elgibility to play for a certain country includes length of residency(I don't think it has to be current residency) and citzenship. I think place of birth qualifies you too? I am not sure, these are just small tidbits I've picked up by watching various sports, duringinternational competition such as the Olympics and the World Cup(anyone seen Alex play for Japan?)
Rugby Union has crazy rules. Some guy played for Tonga and then played for Australia a few weeks later.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting I-Miss-MJ:</div><div class="quote_post">Rugby Union has crazy rules. Some guy played for Tonga and then played for Australia a few weeks later.</div> I'll be playing that pro sometime next year. Woop! I have to start small time though.
