WBC (World Baseball Classic) is an international competition, but it is quite open. The overall framework, such as participation rules and entry changes, is flexible and not difficult.
This is especially true of the eligibility rules. Athletes can decide which country to participate in according to the rules, but the requirements are on the free side. Not only the current nationality of the athlete, but also the nationality of the parents may be followed. Permanent residents are also eligible.
In fact, in the case of Korean national team players, who rarely have dual citizenship, this rule does not have a big impact. But there are opposite examples. KT Wiz Joo Kwon was born in China and naturalized as a Korean citizen, but following his father’s nationality, he will participate in the WBC with the Chinese national team.
In addition, at this WBC, with the active persuasion of the KBO and the National Team Technical Committee, Tommy Edman (St. Louis Cardinals), 카지노사이트 a player of Korean descent, was given the Taegeuk mark. Edmund is an American athlete whose mother is Korean and his father is American. Following his mother’s nationality, he was qualified to compete in the WBC Korean team, and the boarding was confirmed as the player himself expressed his intention.
However, contrary to popular belief, ‘nationality of grandparents’ is not a requirement. As a result of confirmation, in the first WBC competition held in 2006, even the ‘nationality of grandparents’ was recognized. However, after the 1st tournament, that rule disappeared. It is presumed that the nationality of the grandparents is excluded from the eligibility because there are many players of North American, Jewish, or European descent who have dual citizenship and it is difficult to accurately distinguish their nationality based on their bloodlines. If the range is too wide, confirmation itself is impossible, so there is a risk of becoming a national representative only with the insistence of the player and his family. In order to prevent this confusion to some extent, it is limited to ‘parental nationality’.
Even ahead of this competition, several countries checked the relevant information regarding the extent to which nationality would be applied. However, the regulations regarding the nationality of grandparents have not changed. In fact, it is rather a good thing for the Korean national team. This is because the risk that the power of the participating teams that will face each other in the finals may become stronger has decreased.
Japan, which I had to deal with in the first round, had similar concerns. Japan also risked life and death to win the WBC, and as a result, it sent love calls to Japanese players. So, the joining of Las Nutba (St. Louis) was confirmed.
Japan also looked at major leaguers whose grandparents were Japanese. Representative players are Stephen Kwan (Cleveland Indians) and Christian Yelich (Milwaukee Brewers). Kwan and Yelich are both “quarter Japanese” players with Japanese grandmothers.
However, their parents did not have Japanese citizenship, so they were not allowed to participate in the Japanese national team. Of the two, Yelich was particularly active in joining the WBC. Through his agent, he first contacted Hideki Kuriyama, coach of the Japanese national team, and said, “What are the regulations? The Japanese national team also looked closely at the possibility of Yelich joining, but it was realistically difficult. Yelich’s batting performance is not as good as before, but if he still joins, the number of cards the national team can use will increase.
Another team Korea is wary of is Australia. Australia has yet to officially announce even a preliminary entry. This is because even if a player is of American nationality, if only one of his parents is Australian, he can be selected for the WBC team.