Sonia O’Sullivan will be able to compete for Australia at the Commonwealth Games despite Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) plans to change their eligibility rules.
The Irish athlete, who has dual nationality, plans to run for Australia over 5,000metres in Melbourne and then compete for Ireland in the European Championships in Gothenburg later this year.
Under International Association of Athletics Federations rules, athletes who have dual nationality must wait three years when they decide to compete for a country other than that of their birth.
But the IAAF rules cover ‘listed’ events and the Commonwealth Games are not one of them.
The CGF met in Melbourne today and decided to remove this anomaly but will not apply their new rule until the this year’s event, which start in Melbourne on Wednesday, have ended.
CGF chief executive Mike Hooper, who believes the anomaly "makes a mockery of the Games", said the new eligibility rule had not been applied immediately in order to be fair to athletes like 36-year-old O’Sullivan.
The new rule will come into force for the 2010 Games in Delhi.
"Being candid, we did not know that there was this anomaly on eligibility until it came up recently concerning several athletes who have dual nationality," said Hooper.
"The anomaly had to be tidied up and we have done that- we have refined the rules. So, in the case of Sonia O’Sullivan, we wish her well in Melbourne but that loophole is now closed."
But O’Sullivan’s coach and partner Nic Bideau was bemused by the reference to a loophole. He told PA Sport: "It’s not a loophole. Sonia is only following the actual IAAF rules. That’s my reading of it."
Hooper, explaining why there had been a need to alter the CGF’s eligibility rules, said: "The Commonwealth Games are not a listed event under IAAF rules and speaking to Istvan Gyulai (IAAF general secretary) this is largely because of the countries who compete at Commonwealth Games.
"We have, for example, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland competing separately in Melbourne, whereas the IAAF rules cover Great Britain.
"We should apply the same rules at Commonwealth Games as there are for other high-level events and, as Istvan said when I spoke to him, we write the rules for the Commonwealth Games so we can make the necessary change.
"In the future, our rules will therefore be consistent with those of other high-level events and they will be applied as if the Commonwealth Games were an IAAF-listed event.
"On the question of whether or not the change of rule should be applied immediately, we decided that in fairness to the athletes affected, who have been selected and entered in Melbourne, change will only come into effect after the closing ceremony in Melbourne."