Should A Non-brtish Rider Compete In National Championship

[PHILIPRISING 7,298]

I HAVE nothing against Rory Schlein and he has been a good and loyal servant to British speedway, despite some serious injuries, but should he, or any non-British rider, be allowed to ride in our national championship? I know all about the days of Briggs and Mauger, etc, but that was very different given that neither Australia nor New Zealand had any representation at the FIM and all their affairs were handled by the British ACU. We have moved on from there.

 

Personally, I think it would have been a mockery had he won on Monday and was immediately prompted to email the following the Armando Castagna...

 

BRITISH speedway narrowly avoided a major controversy and embarrassment on Monday evening when thankfully Rory Schlein didn’t win the British Championship. What a nonsense that would have been.

How can an Australian and one who has ridden for his country in international events become British Champion? It is too stupid for words.

Surely the FIM should ensure that riders only compete in the the national championship of the country of their birth and not on a licence of convenience.

 

His résponse ...

 

I have no idea of this situation ... but I'm sure Rory must have double passport including British one?

As FIM I can only say that if ACU allow riders from other countries to enter their National Individual Championship itis their decision and we can not interfere. Every country Federation can make their own rule regards their Individual National Championships. For sure, in Italy we only allow Italian passport holders to enter our National Individual Championship... perhaps in UK is different?

 

[iris123 20,997]

BLIMEY Phil,i'd have thought there would have been some more important things to e-mail Armando about?Surely as a speedway journalist of some years you would have noticed this sort of thing happening on a regular basis in other countries,so might have noticed nationality isn't the only criteria?

 

saying that,i do have sympathy with your opinion regarding Schlein,but am intelligent enough to know there are no rules to stop it

[PHILIPRISING 7,298]

BLIMEY Phil,i'd have thought there would have been some more important things to e-mail Armando about?Surely as a speedway journalist of some years you would have noticed this sort of thing happening on a regular basis in other countries,so might have noticed nationality isn't the only criteria?

 

saying that,i do have sympathy with your opinion regarding Schlein,but am intelligent enough to know there are no rules to stop it

ACTUALLY I think it is very important and what other countries might or might not do is their business. British speedway has a big enough credibility crisis as it is without making it even worse. I think the situation was brought more into focus on Monday because of the wild card situation at Cardiff.

 

For the record when I was actually a working speedway journalist as opposed to an old fart I did make a lot of noise at the FIM about Rune Holta racing for Poland in the SWC. As usual, it fell on deaf ears.

 

As you say, there are no rules to stop it but there should be.

Edited June 23, 2017 by PHILIPRISING

[Fromafar 10,375]

Does anyone really care these days,the sport has no credibility these days.Rules are changed on a whim every week .

[PHILIPRISING 7,298]

Does anyone really care these days,the sport has no credibility these days.Rules are changed on a whim every week .

YES there are still people who care. I can tell you that the production guys handling TV coverage of the British Final on behalf on BT Sport were desperate not to have to explain how an Australian won the British Final to an audience in excess of 50,000, many of whom will have known little about speedway.

[iris123 20,997]

ACTUALLY I think it is very important and what other countries might or might not do is their business. British speedway has a big enough credibility crisis as it is without making it even worse. I think the situation was brought more into focus on Monday because of the wild card situation at Cardiff.

 

For the record when I was actually a working speedway journalist as opposed to an old fart I did make a lot of noise at the FIM about Rune Holta racing for Poland in the SWC. As usual, it fell on deaf ears.

 

As you say, there are no rules to stop it but there should be.

BUT you were probably better off then sending an e.-mail to the BSPA or the ACU or SCB.Because "what other countries might or might not do" is more of an FIM issue than what we do.....

[OveFundinFan 4,143]

and judging by all the moans and groans on here leading up to last Mondays Brit Final - yes, there are people who care.

Having come back to speedway 4/5 years ago, I only been to live speedway at Cardiff (3 times) and the World Cup meetings at BV last year. Cant bring myself to spending my hard earned pension watching what is now a sport I can hardly recognise.

British speedway is in the doldrums, we all know that, and a farce like Brit final does nothing to improve things. Even a non-Brit in the top three is bad enough. Last Monday MUST NOT be repeated, the British Final is for British passport holders/born in Britain

[highside 118]

Have a look at british final results from 1961-1972 , Mauger Briggs Moore and Valentine.

[sussex bulldog 41]

and judging by all the moans and groans on here leading up to last Mondays Brit Final - yes, there are people who care.

Having come back to speedway 4/5 years ago, I only been to live speedway at Cardiff (3 times) and the World Cup meetings at BV last year. Cant bring myself to spending my hard earned pension watching what is now a sport I can hardly recognise.

British speedway is in the doldrums, we all know that, and a farce like Brit final does nothing to improve things. Even a non-Brit in the top three is bad enough. Last Monday MUST NOT be repeated, the British Final is for British passport holders/born in Britain

 

in which case he qualified ?

[OveFundinFan 4,143]

highside, PR covered that era in his original post

 

D Cox - chose the right words such that pukka Brits ride in the British Championship.

Whichever way you pick on the words in a post - its still a disgrace that a non-Brit can win a British Championship and get the prize of a wild card at the British Gran Prix. Ridiculous.

Edited June 23, 2017 by OveFundinFan

[PHILIPRISING 7,298]

Have a look at british final results from 1961-1972 , Mauger Briggs Moore and Valentine.

ALREADY explained that anomaly.

[bigcatdiary 3,165]

ACTUALLY I think it is very important and what other countries might or might not do is their business. British speedway has a big enough credibility crisis as it is without making it even worse. I think the situation was brought more into focus on Monday because of the wild card situation at Cardiff.

 

For the record when I was actually a working speedway journalist as opposed to an old fart I did make a lot of noise at the FIM about Rune Holta racing for Poland in the SWC. As usual, it fell on deaf ears.

 

As you say, there are no rules to stop it but there should be.

I agree and talking to friends I didn't find any of them happy with Schlein riding in our British Championship Final, the fact that our best hope in years (Lambert) wasn't in it and we gave places away to an Australian and others who couldn't score a point beggars belief.

 

The top 8 riders should be seeded, the fact that they are not is surely down to the BSPA wanting to sell the semi finals and I dare say Woffinden might well ride if it was just one meeting.

 

As you say the sport in this country has a credibility crisis and this farce does nothing to help, I dare say the attendance might well have been a lot better Monday if all the top British riders were in attendance.

[Humphrey Appleby 13,960]

BRITISH speedway narrowly avoided a major controversy and embarrassment on Monday evening when thankfully Rory Schlein didnt win the British Championship. What a nonsense that would have been

Frankly, I'd have thought there were more pressing issues in speedway to be worrying about. Foreign riders in national championships has been happening for years, and usually comes down to the number and quality of local riders in a particular country. Unless it's an FIM championship, it should be down to the speedway authorities in each country to decide who qualifies or is invited to participate in meetings under their jurisdiction.

 

For that matter, how would you actually define the whether a meeting is a national championship or not? #notthoughtthroughproperly

 

Why are you suddenly worrying about the British Championship now anyway? It's become a declining spectacle for years, with riders hardly bothered to turn up, and yet I don't remember seeing many editorials decrying the situation.

[TheReturn 1,724]

I HAVE nothing against Rory Schlein and he has been a good and loyal servant to British speedway, despite some serious injuries, but should he, or any non-British rider, be allowed to ride in our national championship? I know all about the days of Briggs and Mauger, etc, but that was very different given that neither Australia nor New Zealand had any representation at the FIM and all their affairs were handled by the British ACU. We have moved on from there.

 

Personally, I think it would have been a mockery had he won on Monday and was immediately prompted to email the following the Armando Castagna...

 

BRITISH speedway narrowly avoided a major controversy and embarrassment on Monday evening when thankfully Rory Schlein didn’t win the British Championship. What a nonsense that would have been.

How can an Australian and one who has ridden for his country in international events become British Champion? It is too stupid for words.

 

Surely the FIM should ensure that riders only compete in the the national championship of the country of their birth and not on a licence of convenience.

 

His résponse ...

 

I have no idea of this situation ... but I'm sure Rory must have double passport including British one?

As FIM I can only say that if ACU allow riders from other countries to enter their National Individual Championship itis their decision and we can not interfere. Every country Federation can make their own rule regards their Individual National Championships. For sure, in Italy we only allow Italian passport holders to enter our National Individual Championship... perhaps in UK is different?

Should a non British rider be allowed to ride in our British Final? No. As you rightly mention, a licence of convenience. Seen it in other sports (like tennis) where people seem to chop and change nationalities all the time.

 

BLIMEY Phil,i'd have thought there would have been some more important things to e-mail Armando about?Surely as a speedway journalist of some years you would have noticed this sort of thing happening on a regular basis in other countries,so might have noticed nationality isn't the only criteria?

How typical... Phil and the Speedway Star are routinely criticised for not challenging the sports elite, and when they do people still whinge. Just because it happens in other countries does not mean we should roll over and let it happen here.

[Midland Red 2,383]

I can understand the unrest, caused by the possibility that Rory might have achieved the British GP wildcard

But as has been said, whilst it's not widespread, it has been happening for years, particularly riding on "foreign" licences

 

Regarding passports, that's another argument, and if dual-nationality passport holders do ride, then they can surely choose

Interesting that Philippe contacted Castagna, as I wondered what it had to do with the Italian

But then I browsed the FIM site, and they do list riders' licences for their events - so, if Rory rides on an ACU licence, then it would appear to be ok with the governing body

 

I recall Marvyn Cox riding on a foreign licence, more recently Rune Holta - did Andy Smith do likewise?

Interestingly - if Rory was as seems 100% eligible to ride in the British Final, how many of those bemoaning the quality of the field because Lambert was "absent" were also calling for the removal of a rider of Rory's class?!

 

In the scheme of things, as others have recorded, there are far more important things that need attending to with our wonderful sport, and it would be good to know just how much a person of Philippe's experience, knowledge and standing has emailed the BSPA, SCB, ACU, FIM, about getting some of these things put right

 

If this was your first complaining email, Philippe, let's see plenty more from you - you'll get a lot of backing from the BSF if you can lead a campaign to get some deaf ears turned back, heads dug out of the sand, and some wrongs put to right

 

You may need to become divorced from any involvement in Ole Olsen's Flying Circus - which has devastated UK speedway - and concentrate purely on the domestic scene