In a landmark decision published Thursday, the World Athletics Nationality Review Panel has blocked 13 elite athletes, including four of Jamaica’s top track and field stars, from switching their international sporting allegiance to compete for Turkey. Among the Jamaican applicants was Roje Stona, the newly crowned 2024 Paris Olympic men’s discus gold medalist, alongside shot putter Rajindra Campbell, triple jumper Jaydon Hibbert and long jumper Wayne Pinnock – all core contributors to Jamaica’s rising field athletics program. The rejected applications also included six athletes from African nations – Nigeria’s Favour Ofili, four Kenyan runners including marathon legend Brigid Kosgei, Catherine Relin Amanang’ole, Brian Kibor, Ronald Kwemoi, Nelvin Jepkemboi – and one Russian athlete, Sophia Yakushina.
The panel’s ruling centered on a key finding: the batch of applications was not made up of individual requests, but rather part of a coordinated, state-backed recruitment strategy led by Turkey through a state-funded sports club. According to the panel’s statement, the program offered extremely lucrative financial contracts to elite athletes to secure their citizenship and eligibility to compete for Turkey at major international competitions, including the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
After reviewing all applications collectively due to their shared characteristics, the panel determined that this systematic recruitment approach directly conflicts with the foundational core principles of international track and field. These principles exist to protect the credibility of global competition, incentivize national member federations to invest in nurturing domestic young talent, and preserve athlete confidence that national teams are built through development, not large-scale poaching of established talent from other countries.
“These applications, if approved, would fundamentally undermine the purpose of World Athletics’ eligibility and transfer of allegiance rules,” the panel said in its official announcement. The ruling means none of the 13 athletes will be permitted to represent Turkey in international competitions or national team events. The decision does not restrict the athletes from competing in lower-stakes competitions such as one-day track meets or road races as individual or club entrants, nor does it bar them from continuing to live and train in Turkey.
World Athletics’ transfer regulations set clear criteria for athletes seeking to change the nation they represent at the international level. While holding legal citizenship of the new country is a basic requirement, additional rules are in place to verify a genuine, ongoing connection between the athlete and their new nation, and to protect the global integrity and long-term development of the sport. The independent Nationality Review Panel is tasked with evaluating all allegiance transfer applications in line with these binding regulations.
Prior to the ruling, reports confirmed the Jamaican quartet had already completed Turkish citizenship documentation, drawn by the promise of substantial financial compensation ahead of 2025. The planned departure of the four stars was widely seen as a major setback for Jamaica’s athletics program, particularly for its fast-improving field event sector, which the athletes have helped raise to global prominence. Following news of the athletes’ planned switch, the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) formally called on World Athletics to investigate and intervene, setting the stage for Thursday’s final decision.