Abstract
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association’s (FIFA) well documented changes to their national eligibility laws, that is, the requirements a player must meet in order to represent a given nation, were expanded during the 1990s and well into the 2000s, thus allowing players to more freely switch from one nation to another. Changes made to the 1994 statutes outline that a player who holds dual nationalities is committed to one association only when they participate in their first international match in an official competition for that association. Additionally, the 2004 statutes delineate that a player is free to change associations only if they have not played a match at the A international level for their current association. With the conditions for nation switching being contingent upon “official competitions” and “A international level” matches – both of which are televised and closely documented appearances – how might FIFA be implying their own form of mediated citizenship, a process that documents players as they exist in a variety of FIFA-sanctioned media, from television to the FIFA video game franchise? This paper explores the distinction between nationality (general belonging), citizenship (documented belonging), and mobility as their conditions are implemented, maintained, and enmeshed in the rapidly growing media landscape of international football between the mid-1990s and early 2000s.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
Sporting Cultures and Identities
KEYWORDS
Nationality, Citizenship, Mobility, Media, Mediated Identities, National Industry, Sport Governance
