Athletic naturalisation, nationality and nationalism – Naturalised players in Hong Kong’s representative (national) football team

The increasing transnational mobility of athletes is accompanied by the growing presence of naturalised athletes in national teams, raising questions about the implications for nationalism and national identity in sports. Hong Kong offers a unique context to examine these issues as a Special Administrative Region of China which has its own representative (‘national’) team despite its non-sovereign status. Using in-depth interviews with 24 …