Athlete naturalisation: a shortcut to success?

The nature of sport is competition, and competition means gaining an edge over the opponent by any means possible... in a fair way. 

Malta’s lack of national success in sports can be attributed to several factors – lack of professional setup, funding, nepotism and in certain sports, corruption.  

But another factor, which sometimes may be used as an excuse, is the country’s small pool of athletes from which to create a competitive national squad. This reality is further amplified in less-popular sports like table tennis, athletics and basketball.  

For years, several sport organisations and associations in Malta have opted to naturalise players to gain an edge in international competitions. 

Last week, Malta topped the Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE) medal list for the first time in the country’s history, winning a total of 97 medals. 

Athletes under the spotlight  

Team Malta’s success was immediately put under the spotlight as people started questioning the naturalisation of several athletes across different sport disciplines.  

Out of the 214 athletes who formed the Maltese contingent, 183 athletes were Maltese nationals, 24 were non-Maltese nationals who resided in Malta for at least the past three years and seven were awarded a passport by merit. 

The seven athletes awarded a Maltese passport were: Felix Wetzel (Table Tennis), Dimitrij Prokopcov (Table Tennis), Camilla Iacob (Table Tennis), Renata Strbikova (Table Tennis), Amber Melgoza (Basketball), Eric Washington (Basketball) and Matija Pecotic (Tennis). 

At the get-go, the practice was called out by Maltese table tennis player Andrew Gambina, former Malta Table Tennis Academy vice president David Pace and Maltese-Slovakian table tennis player Viktoria Lucenkova. 

“The foreigners representing Malta, who have no connection to the island, will be showing up for the games, pocketing a vast sum of money, and leaving thereafter, contributing 0% to Malta and the development of Maltese table tennis,” Gambina said.  

Malta has a Citizenship on Merit Initiative. Malta can grant citizenship to individuals who have rendered an exceptional service to the country or to humanity or whose naturalisation is of exceptional interest to Malta. 

According to GSSE technical regulations, the games are open to all nationals of the member countries. Regulations also state that individuals who have been residents in the country for at least three years without interruption at the date of the Games, are assimilated to the nationals. 

Regulations go on to state that foreigners fulfilling the requirements must have an official permit of residence, signed and sealed from the national authority and a licence of the national sport federation governing their sport in their country of residence for at least three years.  

Sources within the sports associations pointed out the practice is adopted by many participating countries. 

“Look at Cyprus for example - they have a large cohort of athletes who would not have made it in Greece and therefore opt to play for the Cypriots. The situation is also the same for San Marino; athletes who do not make the cut with the Italians, play with them,” the source said.  

Other insiders who spoke to this newspaper said that while they agree with the naturalisation of athletes, an individual who was brought in for the GSSE, has already decided not to represent Malta in the upcoming European games. 

“For us its normal to not receive any prize money for winning a medal during international competitions, and the GSSE was an exception. But when this individual was told she was not going to be paid, she decided on not competing,” an athlete said. “One could criticise the individual for showing a lack of loyalty, but one could also criticise the authorities involved for not taking a professional approach to sport.” 

Naturalisation beyond the GSSE  

But the naturalisation of players is also carried out in other sports, with the most popular being football. 

Two of the most famous examples are national team players Jodi Jones and Teddy Teuma. 

Jones was born in England and plays with English Football League Two side Notts County. He is of Maltese descent through his father.  

On 9 September 2022, he had his first call up with the Malta national team for a set of UEFA Nations League matches and debuted with Malta in a 2-1 UEFA Nations League loss to Estonia on 23 September 2022. 

Theuma was also awarded Maltese citizenship based on his Maltese descent back in 2020.  

Born in France, the midfielder is touted to make a big move to French Ligue 1 side Stade Rennes. The player is regarded as one of the most technically gifted players in the current crop of Maltese players. 

What are the big sporting countries doing? 

Quick research shows it is not just small countries who decide on naturalising players to gain advantage over their sporting rivals. 

Chelsea FC star Kalidou Koulibaly was born in France to Senegalese parents and had even represented France at the 2011 U20 World Cup in Colombia but snubbed France to play for Senegal from September 2015 onwards. 

England star Raheem Sterling wasn't born on British soil. In fact, from Kingston, Jamaica, he moved to London when he was five, and decided to play for the Three Lions at international level. 

More examples abound, especially in large countries where the talent pool often spills into the countries they once colonised. 

Naturalisation may be a short cut to success but as the GSSE showed, most medals won were by native Maltese athletes. At the end of it all, Team Malta’s resounding success may have spurred interest in the younger generations to pursue sports at an elite level, irrespective of who the medal winners were.