Campaign for a Scottish Olympic Team (C-ScOT) was a pressure group in Scotland, established in 2005, which aimed to persuade politicians to establish a team to represent Scotland at the Olympic Games. [1]
In July 2005, London was announced as the successful bidder for the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. Shortly after, C-ScOT announced that they had commissioned a question in the regular omnibus survey by Market Research UK which found that 78% of respondents answered yes to the question "Would you like to see Scotland send its own Olympic Team to London 2012?" Over 1,000 adults, aged 16 or over, were interviewed between 12–18 August 2005. [2] Similar levels of support were found by the Daily Record tabloid newspaper. [3]
The survey led to questions in the Scottish Parliament. [4] The survey result also led to discussion at Westminster. [5] The discussions around the football in the London 2012 led to further discussion of possibilities by the Scottish National Party's Alex Salmond. [6] After the SNP's victory in the 2007 Scottish parliament elections, Salmond became First Minister and again made comments around the prospect of Scotland competing at the Olympics. [7]
C-ScOT claimed that a Scottish National Olympic Committee could meet all the criteria set down by the Olympic Charter: eleven non-sovereign nations send teams to the Olympics, including Puerto Rico, Hong Kong and Palestine. There is also precedent for this in other international sporting competitions, such as the football World Cup, in which Scotland fields its own teams.
However, the Olympic Charter has a significant barrier to such a team: since 1995, the Olympic Charter has not allowed for the recognition of non-sovereign nations. Section 31.1 of the Olympic Charter states that to be considered a country, a nation must be "an independent State recognised by the international community"; [8] thus, barring Scotland gaining independence from the United Kingdom, Section 31.1 of the Olympic Charter would require deletion or amendment.
The Olympic Charter also requires there to be at least five national sporting federations, recognised by the international federations of an Olympic sport. This criterion is currently met by Scotland, with the relevant sports being listed below. [9]
Ahead of the 2014 referendum, an expert panel, the Working Group on Scottish Sport chaired by former First Minister Henry McLeish published their report in May. [18] The panel concluded that there was "no obvious or major barrier" to a Scottish team taking part in the 2016 Rio Olympics if the country were to vote for independence. [19] According to the Scottish Government's timetable as set out in its White Paper on an independent Scotland, the country would have become independent on 24 March 2016 after a Yes vote. [20]
Ahead of the vote, the President of the IOC, Thomas Bach, said that a Scottish team could compete at the Olympics if Scotland voted for independence: "We respect democratic decisions. We always do. But you can see from previous decisions we have been taking in similar cases that we are always safeguarding the interests of the athletes." [21]
Angus Struan Carolus Robertson is a Scottish politician serving as the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture since 2021. Former Depute Leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) from 2016 to 2018, he has served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Edinburgh Central since 2021. Robertson previously served as a Westminster MP for Moray from 2001 to 2017, where he served from 2007 to 2017 as the Leader of the SNP in the House of Commons.
Olympic sports are contested in the Summer Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games. The 2020 Summer Olympics included 33 sports; the 2022 Winter Olympics included seven sports. Each Olympic sport is represented by an international governing body, namely an International Federation (IF).
Sports in Canada consist of a wide variety of games. The roots of organized sports in Canada date back to the 1770s, culminating in the development and popularization of the major professional games of ice hockey, lacrosse, basketball, baseball, soccer, football and cricket. Canada's official national sports are ice hockey and lacrosse. Golf, baseball, tennis, skiing, ringette, badminton, cricket, volleyball, cycling, swimming, bowling, rugby union, canoeing, equestrian, squash, and the study of martial arts are widely enjoyed at the youth and amateur levels. Great achievements in Canadian sports are recognized by Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, while the Lou Marsh Trophy is awarded annually to Canada's top athlete by a panel of journalists. There are numerous other Sports Halls of Fame in Canada.
Athletes from the United Kingdom, all but three of its Overseas Territories, and the three Crown Dependencies, can compete in the Olympic Games as part of Team GB. Athletes from Northern Ireland can elect to represent either the UK or 'Team Ireland'. It has sent athletes to every Summer and Winter Games, since the start of the Olympics' modern era in 1896, including the 1980 Summer Olympics, which were boycotted by a number of other Western nations. From 1896 to 2020 inclusive, Great Britain & Northern Ireland has won 918 medals at the Summer Olympic Games, and another 32 at the Winter Olympic Games. It is the only national team to have won at least one gold medal at every Summer Games, lying third globally in the winning of total medals, surpassed only by the United States and the former Soviet Union.
Sport in China has been long associated with the martial arts. Today, China consists of a variety of competitive sports. Traditional Chinese culture regards physical fitness as an important characteristic. China has its own national quadrennial multi-sport event similar to the Olympic Games called the National Games.
The Federation of International Bandy is the international governing body for the sport of bandy, including the variant called rink bandy. The federation is headquartered in Simrishamn Municipality, Sweden.
Sport in Pakistan is a significant part of Pakistani culture. Cricket is the most popular sport in Pakistan, while football, field hockey, polo, and squash are also popular. Traditional sports like kabaddi and other well-known games are also played. The Pakistan Sports Board was created in 1962 by the Ministry of Education as a corporate body for the purposes of promoting and developing uniform standards of competition in sports in Pakistan comparable to the standards prevailing internationally, and regulating and controlling sports in Pakistan on a national basis. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, now has control over the Pakistan Sports Board. The PSB controls all 39 sporting federations. The Pakistan Sports Board is supported by the Pakistan Sports Trust, which assists hard up players and associations so they can continue participating in sports.
Mixed doubles or mixed pairs is a form of mixed-sex sports that consists of teams of one man and one woman. This variation of competition is prominent in curling and racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis, and badminton, as well as gymnastics, figure skating, and card games such as contract bridge.
Sport plays a central role in Scottish culture. The temperate, oceanic climate has played a key part in the evolution of sport in Scotland, with all-weather sports like association football and golf dominating the national sporting consciousness. However, many other sports are played in the country, with popularity varying between sports and between regions.
Sport in Wales plays a prominent role in Welsh culture. Like the other countries of the United Kingdom, Wales enjoys independent representation in major world sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup and in the Rugby World Cup, but competes as part of Great Britain in some other competitions, including the Olympics.
The United Kingdom was awarded a number of major international sporting events during the 2010s leading to an idea of a 'Golden Decade' in British sport. The idea of the golden decade has been discussed in many newspapers and has been mentioned by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Lord Coe.
Cricket is the most popular spectator sport in the country, it generates the highest television viewership, and features full-capacity audiences in stadiums during international and Indian Premier League (IPL) matches. In recent decades, football has also become a popular sport in terms of broadcast viewership and stadium audience attendance. The Indian Super League (ISL), is the highest league of football in India. ISL and national team's matches attract considerable audience in stadium and on TV. The national football team has won two gold medals at the Asian games, three gold medals at the South Asian Games and one silver at the Asian Cup held in 1964 in Israel by virtue of their runner-up position, reached the semifinal of the 1960 Olympics, qualified for the 1950 FIFA World Cup and has won the SAFF Championship a record number of times.
Alexander Elliot Anderson Salmond is a Scottish politician, economist and television host, who served as First Minister of Scotland from 2007 to 2014. A prominent figure in the Scottish nationalist movement, he has served as Leader of the Alba Party since 2021. Salmond was leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), on two occasions, from 1990 to 2000 and from 2004 to 2014. He served as the party's depute leader from 1987 to 1990. Salmond hosted The Alex Salmond Show (2017–2022) on RT UK. He currently hosts Scotland Speaks with Alex Salmond (2023–present).
The Swedish Sports Confederation is the umbrella organisation of the Swedish sports movement. Through its member organisations, it has three million members in 22,000 clubs. The Confederation was formed on 31 May 1903. Its present chairman, since 2015, is Björn Eriksson.
Sports in Barbados are many and varied. The large Barbadian diaspora around the globe and wide-scale availability of International television covered on the local cable service and DirectTV has meant that Barbadians have always been up to date on international trends. Barbadians now follow a wide cross-section of sport from around the world. In recent years, the Barbadian government has implemented a policy of sport-based tourism. Including the hosting of the 2007 Cricket World Cup and various other events locally. Beyond this, the Barbadian calendar has many sporting events throughout the year.
A referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom was held in Scotland on 18 September 2014. The referendum question was, "Should Scotland be an independent country?", which voters answered with "Yes" or "No". The "No" side won with 2,001,926 (55.3%) voting against independence and 1,617,989 (44.7%) voting in favour. The turnout of 84.6% was the highest recorded for an election or referendum in the United Kingdom since the January 1910 general election, which was held before the introduction of universal suffrage.
Sports in Malaysia are an important part of Malaysian culture. Sports in Malaysia are popular from both the participation and spectating aspect. Malaysians from different walks of life join in a wide variety of sports for recreation as well as for competition. In the broadest definition of sports—physical exercise of all sorts—the four most popular recreational sports among the general population of Malaysia are exercise walking, aerobic exercise, strength training, and running. Other most popular sports are bicycling, swimming, climbing, camping, bowling, hiking, fishing, scuba diving and paragliding.
Events from the year 2012 in Scotland.
The United States competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from February 9 to 25, 2018.
Switzerland competed at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China, from 4 to 20 February 2022.