(ATR) The International Rugby Board will determine if players are abusing the Olympics loophole to switch nationalities ahead of the 2015 Rugby World Cup on a case-by-case basis.
The loophole allows players to represent a different country during the Olympics if they have a valid passport and haven’t played for their capped country in over eighteen months. Players must compete in a rugby sevens Olympic qualifier event this season to successfully make the switch.
According to IRB CEO Brett Gosper, the organization will veto transfers that aren’t worthy of making the switch.
"The objective of the regulation is that players qualify for Sevens," Gosper was quoted as saying by ESPNScrum.
"There is a regulations committee that will look at all applications for transfer to see if it's for bona fide Sevens reasons."
"Any obvious abuses that go counter to that spirit of why we're doing it will be caught in the net," he added.
Rugby will be making its Olympic debut at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Written by Andrew Murrell
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
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