As seen on Swiminfo today.......so much for citizenship eh?! And we complain about masters "superteams"!
Draganja Changing Allegiances to Qatar
ZAGREB, Croatia, December 7. WHILE South Africa’s Roland Schoeman has spurned an offer to switch his allegiance to Qatar, the same cannot be said for Croatian Duje Draganja. The sprint sensation, a 24-year-old, recently accepted a lucrative offer to swim for the Middle Eastern nation, which has been chasing high-profile athletes by offering significant sums of money.
Before accepting the offer from Qatar, which is believed to be at least $1 million, Draganja gave Croatian swimming officials the opportunity to keep him swimming under his homeland’s flag. Ultimately, though, the Arab nation won out and Draganja is expected to race for Qatar at next year’s World Short Course Championships in Shanghai, China.
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Former Member
Who said anything about national pride or competition? Anyone who knows me knows I compete and pretty aggressively, too, as well as being proud of my country (usually). However, I do not see why we need to create teams for sports of individuals, nor do I see how having a lot of good athletes has anything to do with the quality of the country, or anything to be particularly proud of. If it creates a false pride I do think that can obscure the real things to be proud of, or not proud of.
Who said anything about national pride or competition? Anyone who knows me knows I compete and pretty aggressively, too, as well as being proud of my country (usually). However, I do not see why we need to create teams for sports of individuals, nor do I see how having a lot of good athletes has anything to do with the quality of the country, or anything to be particularly proud of. If it creates a false pride I do think that can obscure the real things to be proud of, or not proud of.
