List of Nationality Transfers in Sport

List Of Nationality Transfers In Sport

This is a list of sports persons who have moved to compete for another country. Not included in this list are:

  • Players who could choose to play for a new country after the dissolution of their former country. This mainly affected players from the former Soviet Union, such as Viktor Onopko, and the former Yugoslavia, such as Davor Šuker.
  • Players who represented the country they moved to in childhood. Frequently, the home countries of such players are former colonies of their future countries (such as Patrick Vieira, born in Senegal but moved to France in childhood). Another example of such a player was Marcel Desailly, a Ghana-born player who was adopted in childhood by a French diplomat and raised in France.
  • Players who could have chosen to represent more than one country due to their birthplace, parentage, ancestry (i.e., at least one grandparent), and/or residence. Some notable examples:
    • Current England international Owen Hargreaves. Because he was a United Kingdom citizen born outside the country (specifically in Canada), he was eligible to play for any of the four Home Nations—England, Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales. His birth in Canada made him eligible for that country, and his residence in Germany would have made him eligible for that country also.
    • Current German international Kevin Kurányi, who chose Germany (parentage) over Brazil (birthplace), Panama (parentage) and Hungary (ancestry).
    • Former USA international Earnie Stewart, who chose the USA (parentage) over the Netherlands (birthplace and parentage).
  • However, players who actually represented one country, either at junior or senior level, before representing a second country are included, even if they qualify by ancestry. For example:
    • In football, Nigel Quashie represented England at U-21 level, but qualified for Scotland via his Scottish grandfather, and plays for the Scotland senior side.
    • In rugby union, Diego Domínguez played for Argentina at senior level before playing for Italy, for which he qualified via a grandparent. Similarly, Clyde Rathbone represented South Africa at U-21 level before opting for Australia at senior level, and Isaac Boss represented New Zealand at U-19 level before choosing Ireland at senior level; both also qualified for their new countries via a grandparent.


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