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.
Patrick:
I thought he was an American, but had dual citzenship and choose to swim for them. I know he grew up and went to HS over here and I don't think has ever lived in Serbia-Montenegro. Anyway I think that Qater is going to go to that part of the world and offer major bucks that those nations can't afford to fund for swimmers. It seems from all of the news reports that the male sprinters are the ones they are after with the recruitments of Schoeman, Neethling, and Draganja.
Patrick:
I thought he was an American, but had dual citzenship and choose to swim for them. I know he grew up and went to HS over here and I don't think has ever lived in Serbia-Montenegro. Anyway I think that Qater is going to go to that part of the world and offer major bucks that those nations can't afford to fund for swimmers. It seems from all of the news reports that the male sprinters are the ones they are after with the recruitments of Schoeman, Neethling, and Draganja.
