Matt Davis Posted August 1, 2005 Report Share Posted August 1, 2005 We all know that Rune will ride for Poland in round two of the WC in Sweden later tonight, but the question is.. If he had a British passport, would you want him included in the GB national side? My personal opinion is absolutely no way - He may be a good rider but he certainly wouldnt be a genuine Team GB rider just like i dont feel he should be riding for Poland. Anyway, what do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCB Posted August 1, 2005 Report Share Posted August 1, 2005 No thanks. I wouldn't want Crumpy either (even if I do like him). If we're not good enough for them to start their international career with, we don't want them IMO. Even so, they'd have to be proper Brits, not fake ones like Holta is a fake Pole. At least if Crumpy had never rode for Australia and rode for us, he'd be British because of Birth, how is Holta Polish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Clemens Posted August 1, 2005 Report Share Posted August 1, 2005 Holta shouldn't be riding for Poland, simple as that. He is not Polish whether he has a Polish passport or not. He could think of changing his name to 'Zola Budowski'. The question that needs to be asked is 'why is Poland, where the sport is at it's most popular, in the eyes of the people, with so many home born riders available, in need of Holta in the first place? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenn Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 (edited) MY seedy mind thought this would have something to do with your chant in Sweden Mr. Davis "Rune Holta takes it up the...." Posted by beesboybert not SullyRox Edited August 2, 2005 by SullyRox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZKZ Kitten Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 Rune Holta in the Polish Team - weird. He's a good rider, he's strenghtening our team, he does have a Polish nationality but I don't think about him as a Pole at all. Maybe I should, I don't know his reasons for getting a Polish passport but if it's only money and sport then it's just not fair. I want to support Poland, like all faithful fans do but I'm not sure if I'm gonna cheer for him. For me it seems we have only four riders in a team and Holta is like something extra, just like you buy four bottles of coke and get five gratis maybe it's weird but that's exactly the way I feel about him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy moore Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 Didnt Marvyn Cox ride on a German Licence,what meetings did he ride in -he didnt seem to get any complaints at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Davis Posted August 2, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 The question that needs to be asked is 'why is Poland, where the sport is at it's most popular, in the eyes of the people, with so many home born riders available, in need of Holta in the first place? Also, why in Poland where the sport is so popular are they letting Rune ride for Poland despite him having a Polish passport? Just because he has a Polish passport it doesnt mean he has to be included in the Polish side! MY seedy mind thought this would have something to do with your chant in Sweden Mr. Davis "Rune Holta takes it up the...." My chant?! Im pretty sure it started somewhere else and we joined in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cometsfan2k4 Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 I think he should be given a chance to ride for some international team and am glad that Poland have given him the opportunity, as Norway dont exactly have a team lol. IMO he is a really good rider but i dont think i would want him in the GB squad purely because i think we have better riders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritPete Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 I remember an English rider taking out a licence in another country, and he won their national final! Was it Cox? not sure, but, someone will know! won't they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cometsfan2k4 Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 Just because he has a Polish passport it doesnt mean he has to be included in the Polish side! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I dont know if its a Polish Passport he has or not but the reason he is riding for them is he is riding on a Polish License. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Clemens Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 I dont know if its a Polish Passport he has or not but the reason he is riding for them is he is riding on a Polish License. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Surely he will be riding on a speedway bike !!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frigbo Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 Marvyn Cox was 'German' champion, he also wore the German flag in a World Final! This dodgy 'dual nationality' really does make sport look daft, and it's not just speedway either. There have been numerous footballers over the years who have played friendlies or junior levels for one nation and full competitive internationals for another. It's daft, Play/ride for where you or your parents were born and be done with it, although ideally it would be nation of birth only, but that would scupper riders like Mark Loram as Malta haven't got much of a speedway team! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
21st century heathen Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 I would be happy to judge each case on it's own merits. For e.g. if a rider were to live here for years, re-locate to Britain, and decided to live here for the rest of their lives, they could take British Citizenship. Such a rider could then be considered as British as you or I. If he'd ridden once for Australia (for e.g.) when he was 18 that may not be particularly relevant by now. He could have been a Brit for 10 years, and improved to the point that he would be a good addition to the squad. This could be considered a genuine change of nationality. Talking about Holta specifically I have to say that he, and the Poles, have pulled a fast one. He's a good rider, and it's great that we'll all get to see him ride at the highest level, but... Rider/players in other sports changing just to get into a competitive team is not on in my opinion. Oh, and Matt I was rather concerned by the thread title too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BROCK Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 I dont know if its a Polish Passport he has or not but the reason he is riding for them is he is riding on a Polish License. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> If he has only got a Polish licence, how come he can ride for Poland, when a certain Mr Ferjan who had a Hungarian licence could not ride for Hungary as he did not have a Hungarian Passport. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
21st century heathen Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 So maybe he has a Polish passport too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tommy Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 Rune has both a Polish passport and speedway licence. He's ranked 2nd among Polish riders in ekstraliga. Team manager's job is to pick the best polish riders, wether their background is Swedish, Jamaican or Swahili. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salty Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 This is quite a thorny subject, but I guess riders have to do what they think is right for themselves. The Matej Ferjan situation is based around the fact that Matej has had long running problems with the Slovenian authorities and hasn't riden under the Slovenian banner for a long time. Therefore if the rules allow it why should he not be able to ride for another country once he has passed their immigration restrictions? Currently Roman Povazhny rides under a Polish licence (I think) which means he avoids been called back to Russia for any number of meetings allowing him to be more freely available for Arena meetings (compared to Darkin and Gafurov). Consequently he wasn't in the Russian team for the WTC. I have a lot of time for Rune Holta as a rider and I think he deserves a lot of credit for becoming such a successful rider from a country where Speedway has such a low profile. I would assume he must have a Polish passport and as such is eligible to represent them and good luck to him. He is not the first person to have followed that route as it is commonplace in sports such as Athletics and Cricket (Kevin Pietersen being a very topical example). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbit Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 And I'd add that it certainly seems no more bizarre than a sportsman choosing/being eligible to play/ride for a particular country simply because one of their grandparents happened to come from there xx number of years before. If he's serious enough to have taken up a Polish passport then he must have met their criteria for that, so can't see the big problem to be honest - he rides as a Pole in the Polish leagues (rather than being their one foreign rider) so it's not a sneaky move done just to get him into the SWC team and if the Poles are happy for him to represent them, then who are we to object... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Saint Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 There is little difference between this and the days when GB was too weak to fill a side with all British born riders. In those days such greats as Briggo rode for GB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coma Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 he rides as a Pole in the Polish leagues (rather than being their one foreign rider) so it's not a sneaky move done just to get him into the SWC team <{POST_SNAPBACK}> No, it was a sneaky move to get him into the leagues as a Pole which also had the second benefit of allowing him to ride in the SWC for Poland too. Opinion in Poland seems to be split although I feel they were more upset when he was allowed to take part in the Polish Championships (and became Polish Champion! ) not long ago, but not so bothered now he is riding with their riders rather than against them! In general I would say I don't like the idea of people changing nationalities just for their personal careers / earning but have to agree with 21CH, judge each case on it's own merits. If Hungary, Germany and Russia can enter teams, why can't Norway? They have a few good riders, certainly enough to enter a reasonable team and it would be the sort of experience the kids need to progress. Of course they won't win the SWC but surely Rune would rather be representing his "real" own country whilst raising the profile of the sport there? BTW when Briggo and the like were riding for us, it was still a British Commonwealth team wasn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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