heck, we can just claim this thread inspired the article True Red, White and Blue 10/01/06 By Andrea Canales Talks of Ugo and Freddy, and clears some things up in the process....
FYI: I have read that only two countries grant citizenship to everyone born there: The U.S.A. and Mexico.
US soccer can’t make anyone a US citizen for soccer reasons. If they could, we wouldn’t be talking about Ailton to Qatar or wherever, we’d be talking about Ailton to the US. I don’t know so much about the 1950s when the whole process was different, but over the last 20 years no one has become a US citizen on the basis of soccer.
Actually, Congress can grant citizenship to someone for whatever reason they come up with, if they can get the votes for a special act (or at least they used to be able to.) If they can make someone a citizen for coming up with a supergun why not for coming up with a super-stepover?
It's been already covered and corrected long ago ...My mistake, as i had meant Guille Franco... But if your hobby is to give red nipples for silly stuff like this.. knock yourself out
Canada also does this. I remember reading about the case of some Dutch royalty (at least, I think they were Dutch), who gave birth to their child in a Canadian hospital. The Canadian gov't temporarily allowed the delivery room to be declared Dutch territory, so that the child would be born a Dutch citizen rather than Canadian.
I have absolutely no facts to back this up, but I'd be shocked if Australia and New Zealand don't as well.
You have misunderstood what I wrote. Of course, the USSF can't bestow citizenship on anyone. But, players who might be eligible for US citizenship one way or another can be recruited by US soccer to become US citizens so that they can play for the USMNT. David Regis was not granted US citizenship based on his soccer playing ability. But, I do believe he became a US citizen so that he could play international soccer. If that's the only reason someone wants to become a US citizen, I'd rather not have him on the team.
Did you expect me to read all this tripe? If it matters I will have one of my people correct the nipplage. If it matters.
My middle son was born in Thailand (in the late 60's) when I was there for the US government. He has a Thai birth certificate and a US "affidavit" of birth. I seem to remember that we had to "renounce" Thai citizenship so that he wouldn't be drafted into the Thai army had he returned there when he was in his 20's. There was never any doubt as to his American citizenship (nor mine: I was born in the Philippines when my dad was there with the Army Air Corps), but apparently he carried dual citizenship until he renounced it. Maybe things are different now. In any case, it never became a soccer issue because he wasn't in the elite class of players, although he was on the Maryland state team and was president of the Duke soccer club.
You (and others) say he became a US citizen just to play international soccer and I say that's a preposterous assumption, for which the is pretty compelling contradictory evidence. He had an American wife with a job in France. That should bring to mind quite a few other powerful reasons for obtaining US citizenship, though that's seemingly lost on numerous posters here. Did US soccer influence the timing of his citizenship application? Probably, but so what? I live overseas on US government funded work. If I had a local wife, who was eligible for US citizenship, who was good enough to play for the US women's team, I'd encourage her to get her citizenship before, rather than after, the next Womens World Cup. Is that bad thing? Seems like common sense to me - especially as I'm likely overseas long term. For reasons I mention in a previous post, Regis served the team well and publicly represented his country proudly in a place (France) where doing so is not the best way to earn popularity. He deserves far more than the disrespectful crap so common on these boards in posts like yours.
I forsee a new crop of iraqi's and Afgans comming to the team 18 yrs from now and who knows if iran keeps being difficult we may even see some iranians on the team
Regis met his American wife in 1993 or 1994, but, to the best of my knowledge, made no effort or expressed any desire to become a US citizenship. Regis wanted to play international soccer for France, but was not chosen. Sampson found out he was eligible to become a US citizen and recruited him. Then, and only then, did Regis begin the process of becoming an American citizen. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Regis, http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/061598/spo_124-4099.shtml The facts certainly suggest to me that he would not have become an American citizen but for the opportunity to play international soccer. But, perhaps I'm wrong and you can enlighten everyone with the "pretty compelling contradictory evidence" you claim exists. You accuse me of posting "disrespectful crap" about Regis. That's a slander for which you should apologize. I agree that Regis served the team well in France and represented the USA proudly and have never posted otherwise. My complaint is not with Regis (who took the opportunity that was presented to him). It's with the US Soccer Federation and Steve Sampson who recruited a foreigner to become an American citizen so that he could play international soccer. If someone doesn't want to become an American citizen but for the opportunity to play international soccer, then I'd rather not have him on the team, regardless of how good a player or person he is.
That would be very interesting. Don't know if it will happen, but it will be interesting to watch out for.