The following discussion is an archived record of a request for comment. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this discussion. A summary of the conclusions reached follows.

Freeman plays for the Canada team and is Canadian based on his parents birth. Others may diagree of course but find consensus to do so. Thanks! Nemov (talk) 03:46, 2 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

We use nationality, not citizenship in the lead. Freeman has never lived in Canada, but rather in the USA his entire life. The fact that he has Canadian citizenship is irrelevant. The fact that he plays for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic is also irrelevant as many players play for countries that they just have ancestors from. It's not the same as the Olympics. JDDJS (talk to me • see what I've done) 03:54, 2 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

@JDDJS There's enough support below for me to withdraw my objection. You can close with my support. Thanks! Nemov (talk) 03:49, 6 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Should he be referred to as American and Canadian or just American in the lead? See MOS:ETHNICITY for the relevant policy. Note the above conversation. JDDJS (talk to me • see what I've done) 23:02, 3 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

• Just American. As stated above, we use nationality and not citizenship for the lead. We do not automatically include citizenship in the lead. There have been numerous precedents for this, such as Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt and Julianne Moore, just off the top of my head. Freeman has never lived in Canada. Yes, he plays for Canada in the World Baseball Classic, but many players represent countries that they have very loose ties in that league. Overall, he's only notable as an American. JDDJS (talk to me • see what I've done) 23:02, 3 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
  • He's logically not only noteable as American, since he plays for the Canadian national team...--Ortizesp (talk) 06:23, 8 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    In the WBC, not the Olympics. The WBC has extremely loose requirements for what country you can play for. So many players in that league play for countries that they don't even have citizenship in. It is not the argument that you think it is. JDDJS (talk to me • see what I've done) 18:40, 15 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    I disagree, if an athlete represents another country in any international competition, I think that nationality ought to be mentioned. Ortizesp (talk) 09:07, 17 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    @Ortizesp That's not how the policy works. Policy is extremely clear about using nationality and not ethnicity in the lead, but competitions like the WBC allow (and arguably even encourage) players to play based on their ethnicity. JDDJS (talk to me • see what I've done) 03:21, 18 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

    That is how policy works. Per MOS:NATIONALITY, nationalities should be included in lead if they are relevant to the subject, which in this case they are. Ortizesp (talk) 03:34, 18 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

• Just American--✠ Robertus Pius ✠ (Talk • Contribs) 02:08, 4 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
• Just American per above. Some1 (talk) 15:52, 4 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
• American - he was born in America, and his dual-citizenship is adequately explained in the Early life section. Isaidnoway (talk) 🍁 09:45, 5 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
• Canadian and American, he's a dual citizen and plays for the Canadian national team. I'm not sure the arguments against both being included make any sense.--Ortizesp (talk) 06:23, 8 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
• Canadian and American, he's a dual citizen and plays for the Canadian national team. Freeman self describes himself as a Canadian as well, Kyrie Irving has Australian in his lead because he self describes himself as an international.

  Black roses124 (talk) 23:22, 9 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

• Just American same reasoning as others.-- Yankees10 23:31, 9 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
• Just American MOS:BIOFIRSTSENTENCE is clear on using nationality, and does not mention anything about citizenship. Freeman is an American by birth and nationality. He represents Canada in the WBC because the WBC made extremely loose restrictions on what nation you can play for to encourage players to spread the talent around to other teams. – Muboshgu (talk) 23:38, 9 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
• Canadian and American ok Articles describe him as both example https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6976556, he’s self identifies as Canadian, he’s plays for the Canadian national team which is notable if they win WBC that be very notable achievement. Vladdy jr has both in his article, Kyrie has both in his article his cousin has both in hers Carson Branstine. What if he got traded to the blue jays is he still an American in Canada. With the “He never lived in Canada” he’s been in MLB 13 years you have to go to Toronto to play Blue Jays all those hotel stays in Toronto over 13 years add up do they not count? Also why don’t you ask Freddie what do you think he’d prefer Canadian and American or just American its silly to just include American when Freeman himself would disagree with it why can’t Wikipedia just respect Freddie Freeman’s self identity?

  184.144.112.243 (talk) 00:02, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

• Canadian and American - MOS:NATIONALITY says In cases of public or relevant dual citizenship, or a career that spans a subject's emigration, the use of the word and reduces ambiguity. He considers himself a Canadian and has duel citizenship. We should respect his wishes and this fits within the policy. Thanks! Nemov (talk) 00:50, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
• Canadian and American — if it ain't broke, don't fix it. The arguments in favor of calling him just American seem like solutions looking for problems. As others in favor of keeping the existing wording have pointed out, Freeman possesses Canadian citizenship, plays for the Canadian national team, and self-identifies as Canadian, all of which together seem to satisfy the criteria given by MOS:NATIONALITY. Anonymous 21:18, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]
• Just American as that would fit with existing policy.. his personal preference, even if it could be known, is immaterial here.Spanneraol (talk) 22:33, 11 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

• Just American (Brought here from WP:RFC/A) - Seems that if we set precedence to include all notable persons citizenship status, we would be cluttering up a lot of articles lead sentence. Now having said that, I think its notable enough to include in the body, or maybe even further down in a lead paragraph.

MaximusEditor (talk) 20:27, 13 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

• Canadian and American — When nationality is ambiguous or complex like this, I think we ought to give a large amount of deference to the subject themselves. After a brief glance, it seems like there are sources which indicate that Freeman considers his Canadian identity to be something important to him. Based on a brief glance at his bio, I personally would say he's mostly or all American. But if he himself includes "Canadian" in his identity, who am I, or who are we to tell him otherwise? NickCT (talk) 20:57, 17 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

  All the source you included points to that he cares deeply about his late mother who was a Canadian. People keep pointing to him playing for the World Baseball Classic for Canada while ignoring that they have very loose requirements for what country you can play for and many players have played for teams that aren't considered to be their nationality. JDDJS (talk to me • see what I've done) 03:12, 18 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

  Well to be fair he has stated how proud he is to wear a jersey that has Canada on it and how he started crying during the national anthem https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yI0JvmS7ceI Black roses124 (talk) 23:57, 18 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

  Also WBC requirements aren’t exceptionally out of the ordinary loose they are as loose as FIFA requirements and FIBA requirements. Black roses124 (talk) 00:36, 19 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

  @Black roses124 That is completely false. FIFA has strict rules that limit what country players can represent. Generally you can't represent a country that you've never lived in the FIFA. As long as you have some traceable to the county in question, the WBC generally allows players to play for any country that they want to, and it is not at all uncommon for players to switch to a different team in a new tournament. While there have been controversies over country eligibility in FIFA, there's been no significant cases of any player being denied eligibility for whatever country they wanted to play for. JDDJS (talk to me • see what I've done) 02:44, 19 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

  I respectfully disagree sir FIFA is the most loose they allow you to play for a country you were born in, a country your parents were born in, or a country your grandparents were born in. They even have a one-time switch clause so you can switch senior national teams if you choose. Also even if you, your parents, and grandparents were not born in a country even if you aren’t a citizen as long as you lived there continuously for five years or if you arrived in country before the age of ten than three years of continuous residency you can play for the national team. From what I know of WBC you can’t play for a country you aren’t a citizen of or join a national team of your grandparent. Black roses124 (talk) 03:09, 19 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

  @Black roses124 You clearly don't much about the WBC. Citizenship is not at all a requirement to play for the team. Plenty of people play for teams of a grandparent. JDDJS (talk to me • see what I've done) 16:13, 19 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

  Well then it brings me back to the original point of “WBC requirements aren’t exceptionally out of the ordinary loose they are as loose as FIFA requirements and FIBA requirements.” Black roses124 (talk) 17:09, 19 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

  Dude you clearly don’t know much about the WBC heres the website you can’t play for country of your grandparent in WBC you can only play for parent country, and if you or your parents weren’t born in the country you have to have citizenship or permanent residency something FIFA doesn't require to play for their respective national team. So much for your “People keep pointing to him playing for the World Baseball Classic for Canada while ignoring that they have very loose requirements for” complaint WBC is more strict than FIFA https://www.mlb.com/news/world-baseball-classic-rules-and-regulations-2023 142.113.184.3 (talk) 08:41, 23 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

  @JDDJS: - re "All the source you included points to that he cares deeply about his late mother who was a Canadian" - The source I linked said "his parents ... ensured he knew the value of being a Canadian". I don't know how'd you'd read that, and not infer that Freeman values being Canadian. NickCT (talk) 13:57, 20 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

• Comment Can anyone point to a single neutral source that talks about him being Canadian outside of the context of the world baseball classic? As stated numerous times here, players very often play in that league for countries that we wouldn't consider their nationality. Yeah, of course they're going to talk about it during the classic, especially considering the fact that he's the most high profile player playing for Canada by a long shot, but that doesn't make him notable as a Canadian. JDDJS (talk to me • see what I've done) 03:17, 18 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

• American It's the context for his notability, although mentioning Canadian not too prominently should be okay too I suppose. CurryCity (talk) 07:07, 18 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

• Keep the current "American and Canadian" or similar note such as "American-Canadian" and "Canadian-American". This would be to respect the long-standing status quo, RS usage, and his own statements of family connection and affinity there (incl. standing for the Canadian national anthem). I do see "Canadian-American" at Sports Illustrated, and "American-Canadian" at CBC.ca as examples. Overall I think the edge is enough that the existing phrase should be left alone. Cheers Markbassett (talk) 20:30, 18 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

  A Canadian news source is far more likely to be biased towards mentioning someone's Canadian citizenship regardless of it being relevant. The Sport's Illustration article mentions his Canadian citizenship only because it was relevant since they were speculating on him potentially playing for the one MLB team based on Canada (which he didn't do in the end). JDDJS (talk to me • see what I've done) 02:47, 19 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

  You can complain about Canadian news source bias, but they might as well equally complain about American news source bias against mentioning someone's Canadian citizenship. NickCT (talk) 14:11, 20 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

• Canadian and American RS usage, and his own statements of family connection and affinity per Markbassett and I think we ought to give a large amount of deference to the subject themselves. per NickCT. Pincrete (talk) 07:28, 27 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Canadian and American per @NickCT Homerethegreat (talk) 09:18, 27 November 2023 (UTC)[reply]