Should 'Great Britain' be considered a nation in sports? ?

Question

I was speaking to some 'British' fans and for some reason they dont considered themselves Brittish or from the Uk. Each identify themselves as either a Scot, Welsh or English. So why does the United Kingdom of Great Britain exist when a lot of its citizens considered themselves either a Scot, welsh, English or from Northern Ireland?

If not then why do they insist on competeing under the one flag. They compete seperatly in most other sports like Rugby and Football.

In Cricket, the West Indies competes as the west Indies. But in the Olympics they compete as seperate nations. Why doesnt this happen to the Uk. The same Applies to Chinese Taipei (Taiwan) which does not compete under the Chinese flag despite being a territory of China.

I just find it unfair to smaller yet similar nations who are trying to be competeive but are pushed over by countires such as the 'uk' which in my opinion should compete as individual countries.

Ive asked some 'British fans' this question yet they are not sure tthemselves why Great Britian exist when they identify their nationality as either a scot, welsh etc.

Answer 1

Great britain is classified as a country but for some reason england,wales,scotland and northern ireland are not.the houses of Parliament is the British Parliament not english. england doesn't have there own government

Answer 2

The IOC needs to get with the time and stop living in the 1800's

Answer 3

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island. (Now you know why we abbreviate it,) is a sovereign state formed around the 17th century with the signing of a treaty of union. Its rather complicated and as you are probably aware if you have been talking to us Brits sometimes a little bit of a sore subject. The reason we compete as separate nations in other sports is because there are governing bodies for each nation, in football there is the FA (England) SFA (Scotland) FAW (Wales) and the IFA (Ireland). It is also the reason we don't field a football team in the Olympics as there is no British team to compete in qualifying tournaments, we do however gain automatic entry in 2012 but getting the nations to agree to all play together is just as complicated. The Scott's have already declined to participate on the grounds that they think FIFA (the European football governing body) would force them to compete as part of a British team for other major tournaments such as the world cup. The process of devolution is underway to dissolve the UK but it again is a complicated issue and will take many more years before the UK nations compete in the Olympics separately certainly not by 2012 but possibly by 2016. As you have discovered many British citizens don't consider themselves British, but unfortunately for the time being we are still one nation.  

Answer 4

National Olympics Committee gets the invitation from IOC to participate in the Olympic.

In the case you mentioned, NI, Scotland, etc. They are all part of Great Britain NOC. Since they never applied as an single entity (NOC), they can't not participate in the Olympic as a separate countries.

The olympic charter is not really clear (at least to me, lol) on what is needed to form an IOC recognized NOC. I think some of you probably remember the Unified Team (Old Soviet Union) after dissolving of USSR. Many countries (Ukraine, Russia, etc) played under the Unified team flag. In the case of Hong Kong. It's also a separate NOC, and not part of China, so they have their own team.

Bottom line is that, Great Britain can break up and Scots, Wales, etc, can play under separate countries if they desired to form separate NOCs.

Answer 5

Northern Island is part of the United Kingdom, but not Great Britain. I think they should compete together or there would not be enough athletes. Think how small the countries are compared to USA and China etc. Also lots of people are happy to be part of great Britain- myself included.

Answer 6

Taiwan is a recognized nation by most of the world. It's different.

Great Britain is one nation made of 4 countries like Russia is one nation made of small "countries"

Answer 7

The IOC should not allow 4 different countries to compete as one.These countries don't even like each other,the Scots hate the English,the English hate the Irish.They compete as separate countries in other sports,so why not do the same at the Olympics.

The West Indies should be separate in Cricket as well,cuz there's too much conflict between the countries.

Answer 8

Sorry, I'm not really answering your question - just addressing the wrong, wrong answers - because they p**s me off.

-Taiwan is not a "recognized nation by most of the world," hence why it doesn't have a seat in the United Nations.  I'm not commenting on its independence status, but the Republic of China (or Taiwan) is only recognized by a handful of countries (like El Salvador and Panama).

-Great Britain is not ''classified as a country.''  Great Britain is the island that three countries - England, Scotland, and Wales - occupy.  Also, the idea that the members of the United Kingdom are not countries is absurd and ignorant.  Yes, there is Parliament, but there are local assemblies with legislative powers.  Research 'devolution.'

Why can't people do simple research before adding their non-researched, ignorant answers?

Answer 9

England Scotland and Wales are defined as constituent countries of the nation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Great Britain has been a separate country since the Scottish King James 1st became the first in line to English throne on the death of the childless Elizabeth 1st of England in 1603. As this union is relatively recent, national pride and identity of the consitutent countries remain. Northern Irish Athletes are citizens of the United Kingdom but can opt to compete either for Great Britain or Ireland. Olympic teams are setup by national IOC body, these then coordinate with national sporting organizations which for the older established sports of rugby and football were divided by constituent country, other sporting bodies were setup of the national level. At the Commonwealth of the old British Empire games individuals will compete for Scotland, Wales or England. At the Olympics it is team GB.

West Indies competes on a super-national level rather than the national level so they can create a competitive team. There are not so many world class cricketers on each island. For the olympics they can only compete as a nation so the ability to field a multi-national team is not possible. Similarly teh Europe4an Union could not field an Olympic team.

Taiwan's status as a separate country to mainland China is recognized by the United States but not by mainland communist China. This is why it is a separate country able to compete at the Olympics.