European Athletics to look into country-hopping issue

From a statement made by Sven Arne Hansen of  European Athletics today

“…many people have been discussing the issue of transfer of allegiance, whereby athletes switch the country for whom they represent in international competitions.

“This is, of course, a matter where the IAAF is the ultimate authority and in my role as an IAAF Council member I will be raising this at our next meeting.

“Firstly, we need to be clear that any athlete who is granted refugee status can be fast-tracked to compete for a new country if appropriate. This cannot be questioned.

“However, we in European Athletics believe there is a need to look more closely at the appropriate conditions for a change of nationality and the length of time before eligibility is granted to compete.”