Minister writing to UK Gov over potential 'Team GB' rebrand

Friday 20 August 2021

Jersey's Minister for Sport and Culture is planning to write to the UK Government following suggestions that 'Team GB' may be rebranded to 'Team UK'.

It was recently reported that the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, was considering ditching ‘Team GB’ in favour of ‘Team UK’ to allow athletes from Northern Ireland to join the Olympic squad.

Officially, the team is called the ‘Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team', but the British Olympic Association has been using ‘Team GB’ since 1999.

Oliver Dowden, the Culture Secretary, and Brandon Lewis, the Northern Ireland Secretary, have been consulted about the proposal, according to the Times.

As the Channel Islands and other Crown Dependencies are part of the British Isles, but not part of the UK. It is unclear if a name change would affect Channel Islands and Crown Dependencies' ability to compete, but the name change could be seen as less inclusive for them.

Pictured: Senator Lyndon Farnham is writing a letter to the UK Government to seek assurances about the potential name change from 'Team GB' to 'Team UK'.

Four athletes with links to the Channel Islands recently competed in the Tokyo Olympics, Carl Hester MBE, who was part of the GB Team for dressage who won a Bronze medal, as well as track and field sprinter Cameron Chalmers, and tennis player Heather Watson.

Former Victoria College student Oliver Schofield also took part in the Olympics for hockey, but as part of the Canadian squad, as he was born in Canada.

Contacted by Express, a Government spokesperson said they didn’t expect the potential 'Team UK' name change to “impact the selection and participation of Jersey athletes”.

Minister for Economic Development, Tourism, Sport and Culture, Senator Lyndon Farnham, has however been in touch with his counterparts in other Crown Dependencies and is planning on writing to the UK Government to seek assurances.

“Decisions on the team name are a matter for the British Olympic Association, which is made up of the 42 National Governing Bodies of each Olympic sport,” a Government spokesperson said.

“The Minister for Economic Development Tourism Sport and Culture is discussing the matter with his counterparts in the Isle of Man and Guernsey.

"He intends to write to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to ensure the views of the Crown Dependencies are considered in any discussion regarding a name change.”