JaVale McGee |
Naturalization and the
way of the world
by
rick olivares
Even back during the ancient Olympic Games, there
were issues on race and origin.
During the creation of the games, that were first a
religious festival more than athletic, people who weren’t Greek could not
compete. But Greek athletes from the colonies of Egypt, Italy, Libya, Spain,
Turkey, and Ukraine could compete.
During a lecture in the 22nd session of
the International Olympic Academy, University of Lille (France) professor,
Bernard Jeu noted that even as far back as the ancient Olympic Games, there
were athletes switching nationalities.
During the 99th games (384 B.C.), the long
race winner, Sodates, who was from Crete, had him proclaimed an Ephesian.
Astylus of Croton, winner of the 73rd and
74th Olympic Games (488 and 484 B.C. respectively), declared himself
to be competing for Syracuse and not Croton.
And they were all perfectly legal.
So naturalization isn’t something new.
Nationality is by virtue of being born into the state
or they have blood ties to the state. Naturalization is the admission of
individuals that is the prerogative of the state and is based on the
fulfillment of certain conditions from residency, familiarity to the culture
and language, moral standing, and financial capability. And that includes
politicians, musicians and athletes. Sometimes, this is waived to admit people
of merit.
Cases in point:
Madeleine Albright served under former American
President Bill Clinton as Secretary of State. It should be stated that Albright
was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia.
English musician John Lennon obtained his Resident
Alien Registration (green card) in 1976. He would have been eligible for
American citizenship in 1981 except that he was murdered in 1980.
Nigerian Hakeem Olajuwon initially tried
out for the US National Team but he wasn’t allowed to suit up because he wasn’t
an American citizen. By 1996, he had finally become an American citizen and was
allowed to play for what was dubbed Dream Team III during the Atlanta Olympics.
In an article in the Baltimore Sun written by Jerry Bembry, Olajuwon was quoted
as saying, "When I became a U.S. citizen,
there were some people in Nigeria who criticized me. But I've been here over 10
years, my home is in Houston and a lot of family is in the United States.
"It was just natural. I'm still a
Nigerian and I'm proud of it, but I'm a U.S. citizen."
It isn’t only in the United States. Singapore’s
ageless football wonder Aleksandar Duric was born in Bosnia but first became
Australian before settling down in Southeast Asia where he has lived for over
14 years now. He later had a choice to move but the fact that his children were
born in Singapore says something of where his heart lies.
Andray Blatche |
All over the world, countries – first
world ones too -- naturalize people for a variety of reasons. And that brings
me news about Gilas Pilipinas’ naturalizing NBA players JaVale McGee and Andray
Blatche who if their papers are processed in time would allow them to suit up
for the FIBA World Cup this August.
Let me throw my thoughts into this.
Albright, Lennon, and Olajuwon spent
considerable time in the United States before trying to obtain citizenship. Ditto
with Duric except that he was in Singapore. American Marcus Douthit spent quite
some time here before being naturalized in 2011 and playing for the
Philippines.
There are arguments about short cuts
and how McGee and Blatche aren’t going through the normal route. That is
something that national team head coach Chot Reyes disputes: “Their papers are
going through the proper route – congress and the senate. So I don’t know what
they are talking about.”
If that is so then there’s nothing
wrong with the process. At least there is a process now and one that is being
followed. During the ancient Olympics as I previously mentioned, some merely
declared from which Greek state they felt they belonged too and that sometimes
brought brutal reprisals. Well, we’ve come a long way from that.
I think the move to naturalize the NBA
players rankles people more because pundits perceive them as mercenaries who
are looking to play in the international stage because they cannot play for
their own national team. There doesn’t seem to be any previous affinity to play
for the country perhaps save for McGee who is a previous visitor to the
country.
Let’s get something out of the way.
Even our Fil-foreigner brothers carry foreign passports. Not every country
accepts dual citizenship but we do. We do because we want to improve our gene
pool. Remember that they carry foreign passports as well prompting others to
cry foul. But the truth of the matter is some haven’t fixed their Philippine
passport or aren’t able to suit up right away because they were not able to
apply for dual citizenship and acquire a Philippine passport.
Let me throw you this bone -- if they
had a chance to play for their mother country (their passport of origin)
believe me they would at the drop of the hat. We just argued that any one with
a scintilla of Filipino blood is Pinoy but hasn’t it occurred that they too are
citizens of another country. We are just so hungry to improve our pool that we
accept everyone.
So what is wrong with naturalization?
Nothing.
If you have Filipinos constantly
seeking green cards or other citizenship what’s wrong with those wanting to
seek Philippine citizenship? Don’t you think those seeking green cards and
American citizenship want a better life too (remember they send money back home
that counts a lot in our income)? That is why other nationalities want to come
to the Philippines too. Unless “it’s more fun in the Philippines” is nothing
but a copied BS advertising line.
We all have our own reasons. Deal with
it. It’s the way of the world.
Should we take this post as an acceptance of imports in the UAAP as well?
ReplyDeleteMight as well do away with imports in the PBA and just naturalize players. All-Filipino all year round.
DeleteFIBA has it's rules regarding naturalized players. The UAAP has it's rules regarding foreign student-athletes. It's not a matter of acceptance. As long as what a national federation, or a UAAP school, does is within the rules, there should be no problem.
DeleteThis goes back during the last time the Philippines has its its best finish in asian basketball , during the Ron Jacobs and Chip Engelland . era
ReplyDelete