I was reading the Sao Paulo Declaration at
http://www.wamo.info
and the FINA response also linked to on that site.
What exactly is the justification for FINA GR 4, which prohibits participation by individuals and/or organizations in non-FINA-affliated organizations or events? The rule seems unreasonably broad in not limiting in any way what organizations one can not be affiliated with!
On the idealistic side, I find it somewhat offensive to have my rights of association so limited by a body like FINA. On the pragmatic side, FINA seems to have stacked the cards so much in its favor that it is hard to imagine fighting it.
Well the first post asked a question and no one has answered. So maybe I will try.
The FINA rule was not put in place because of masters. It was put in place long before FINA was interested in masters. To understand the rule, one has to look at where it comes from. The International Olympic Committee needs to have a single organization that it recognizes as the authority for each sport. Each of these authorities must truly control the sport world-wide otherwise there would be real mess with athletes not knowing who to believe. The way these organizations do this (and I believe that if you check similar Olympic sport organizations they will have similar rules) is to have a severe penalty for those that would support rival organizations.
Having said that, history suggests that these types of organizations do not care about the local competitions that may be held like the open water swims. Organizations like the NCAA, YMCA are affiliated members of United States Aquatic Sports (USAS) and therefore are covered I believe. It is only when someone attempts to run an event that infringes on what FINA believes is their territory (like internation championships), do they get involved. Actually, I believe that most of the sanctions imposed by FINA have involved those who have violated the rules against contact with nations that were being sanctioned such as South Africa years ago. Very few if any athletes have been sanction this way because it doesn't come up very often. That is not to say that they won't do it in this case though.
I hope this helps.
Well the first post asked a question and no one has answered. So maybe I will try.
The FINA rule was not put in place because of masters. It was put in place long before FINA was interested in masters. To understand the rule, one has to look at where it comes from. The International Olympic Committee needs to have a single organization that it recognizes as the authority for each sport. Each of these authorities must truly control the sport world-wide otherwise there would be real mess with athletes not knowing who to believe. The way these organizations do this (and I believe that if you check similar Olympic sport organizations they will have similar rules) is to have a severe penalty for those that would support rival organizations.
Having said that, history suggests that these types of organizations do not care about the local competitions that may be held like the open water swims. Organizations like the NCAA, YMCA are affiliated members of United States Aquatic Sports (USAS) and therefore are covered I believe. It is only when someone attempts to run an event that infringes on what FINA believes is their territory (like internation championships), do they get involved. Actually, I believe that most of the sanctions imposed by FINA have involved those who have violated the rules against contact with nations that were being sanctioned such as South Africa years ago. Very few if any athletes have been sanction this way because it doesn't come up very often. That is not to say that they won't do it in this case though.
I hope this helps.
