Sport

Plea to allow north's gymnasts to compete

Northern Ireland's Rhys McClenaghan wins gold during the Men's Pommel Horse at the Coomera Indoor Sports Centre during day four of the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast, Australia..
Northern Ireland's Rhys McClenaghan wins gold during the Men's Pommel Horse at the Coomera Indoor Sports Centre during day four of the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast, Australia.. Northern Ireland's Rhys McClenaghan wins gold during the Men's Pommel Horse at the Coomera Indoor Sports Centre during day four of the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast, Australia..

Sport NI and Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland have both urged the International Gymastics Federation to reconsider their decision to ban three Northern Ireland gymnasts from competing at this year's Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Rhys McClenaghan, Eamon Montgomery and Ewan McAteer have been told that because compete for Ireland in the FIG tournaments, they are ineligible to compete in the Commonwealth Games, which take place in Birmingham in August.

Chief Executive of Sport NI Antoinette McKeown urged the FIG to consider the complex situation in the north and reverse their decision to stop the trio from competing in Birmingham.

She said: “Northern Ireland is a place of complex identities, and the Good Friday / Belfast Agreement sought to balance these delicate relationships by affording people the greatest possible choice to be British, Irish, Northern Irish, and any or all of the above. In the past decade Sport NI has worked with partners to ensure sport shows equal flexibility to accommodate and afford our local athletes the widest possible opportunity to compete.

“At international level, most competitions see our local athletes choose to compete for either Team Great Britain, or Team Ireland. The Commonwealth Games is a welcome opportunity for Northern Ireland athletes, whatever their community background or political opinion, to represent their region, and we have a proud history of them doing so. The ruling by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) does not respect the unique circumstances or complexity of identity within Northern Ireland, and we fully support the Commonwealth Games NI in its efforts to have this decision overturned.

“We will also be using our relationships with colleagues in Great Britain to ensure the wider sporting community recognises this decision serves the interests of no-one.”

McClenaghan and McAteer both competed in the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia where McClenaghan won pommel horse gold. McClenaghan also competed for Ireland in last year's Olymic Games in Toyko.

In statement from Commonwealth Games Northern Ireland, they appealed for FIG to allow the gymnasts to compete in this summer's Games:

"Historically, TeamNI at all Commonwealth Games has included athletes across a range of sports who have chosen to represent either IRL or GBR at European Championships, World Championships and Olympic Games. We even have athletes within the same sport who have chosen different international performance pathways. This has always been respected and adds to the inclusive nature of TeamNI at Commonwealth Games.

"The FIG appear to have completely disregarded the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and the unique situation pertaining to Northern Ireland. They are out of step with all of our other member sports.

"Commonwealth Games NI will continue to support our athletes, and we are determined that they will represent Northern Ireland at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. We hope to see the FIG reconsider their position to make this so."