SO DOES OUR ANDY REALLY HAVE DUAL NATIONALITY?
IT is something Scottish sports fans have complained about for years.
But now academics have confirmed suspicions that Sir Andy Murray is described by commentators as British when he wins but Scottish if he loses.
Researchers at Bourgogne University in Dijon say the tennis ace, from Dunblane, is an example of a phenomenon known as MOATing or Moving Others Away/Towards.
The study also cited Albert Einstein as an example of MOATing, saying: ‘Einstein once said, “If my theory of relativity is proven successful, Germany will claim me as a German and France will declare I’m a citizen of the world. Should (it) prove untrue, France will say I am a German and Germany will declare I am a Jew.”
‘About a century after, the case of Andy Murray, a Scottish-born tennis player, illustrates this phenomenon.
‘That is, before achieving the status of star player in 2012, he was essentially described as Scottish by news reporters.
‘But, following an unsurpassed series of victories (the US Open, Wimbledon, the 2012 Olympic Games, Davis Cup for the English team, Masters of London, world’s No1 player in 2016), reactions from the media drastically changed.
‘Later on, Murray hence became systematically portrayed as a British national.’
The MOATing phenomenon in sport was first identified after Olympic drug cheat Ben Johnson’s fall from grace.
The sprinter was stripped of his gold medal at the 1988 Games in South Korea, after failing drug tests.
Canada’s media stopped calling him Canadian and referred to him as Jamaican, the country of his birth.
Veteran sports commentator Archie Macpherson said: ‘This phenomenon isn’t new. Just about every Scot who is successful in the Olympics goes from being Scottish to British – people like sprinter Allan Wells and cyclist Chris Hoy.’