Editing Amateur (section)

==Olympics==
{{main|Olympic Games#Amateurism and professionalism}}
Through most of the 20th century the Olympics allowed only amateur athletes to participate and this amateur code was strictly enforced, [[Jim Thorpe]] was stripped of [[track and field]] medals for having taken expense money for playing baseball in 1912.

Later on, the nations of the [[Communist bloc|Communist Bloc]] entered teams of Olympians who were all nominally [[student]]s, [[soldier]]s, or working in a profession, but many of whom were in reality paid by the state to train on a full-time basis.<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/1974/07/21/archives/soviet-amateur-athlete-a-real-pro-dr-john-nelson-washburn-is-an.html|title = Soviet Amateur Athlete: A Real Pro|newspaper = The New York Times|date = 21 July 1974|last1 = Washburn|first1 = J. N|access-date = 25 August 2021|archive-date = 19 April 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190419153414/https://www.nytimes.com/1974/07/21/archives/soviet-amateur-athlete-a-real-pro-dr-john-nelson-washburn-is-an.html|url-status = live}}</ref>

Near the end of the 1960s, the [[Canadian Amateur Hockey Association]] (CAHA) felt their amateur players could no longer be competitive against the Soviet team's full-time athletes and the other constantly improving European teams. They pushed for the ability to use players from professional leagues but met opposition from the [[International Ice Hockey Federation]] (IIHF) and the [[International Olympic Committee]] (IOC). At the IIHF Congress in 1969, the IIHF decided to allow Canada to use nine non-NHL professional hockey players<ref name="Num17">{{harvnb|Podnieks|Szemberg|2007}}, [http://www.iihf.com/iihf-home/the-iihf/100-year-anniversary/100-top-stories/story-17.html Story #17–Protesting amateur rules, Canada leaves international hockey] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010205021/http://www.iihf.com/iihf-home/the-iihf/100-year-anniversary/100-top-stories/story-17.html |date=2017-10-10 }}.</ref> at the 1970 World Championships in [[Montreal]] and [[Winnipeg]], [[Manitoba]], Canada.<ref>{{harvnb|Podnieks|Szemberg|2007}}, [http://www.iihf.com/iihf-home/the-iihf/100-year-anniversary/100-top-stories/story-40.html Story #40–Finally, Canada to host the World Championship] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171010210250/http://www.iihf.com/iihf-home/the-iihf/100-year-anniversary/100-top-stories/story-40.html |date=2017-10-10 }}.</ref> The decision was reversed in January 1970 after IOC President [[Avery Brundage]] said that ice hockey's status as an Olympic sport would be in jeopardy if the change was made.<ref name="Num17" /> In response, Canada withdrew from all international ice hockey competitions and officials stated that they would not return until "[[Open (sport)|open competition]]" was instituted.<ref name="Num17" /><ref>{{cite news|title=Summit Series '72 Summary |publisher=[[Hockey Hall of Fame]] |url=http://www.hhof.com/html/GamesSummarySUM1972.shtml |access-date=2009-03-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080807130920/http://www.hhof.com/html/GamesSummarySUM1972.shtml |archive-date=2008-08-07 }}</ref> [[Günther Sabetzki]] became president of the IIHF in 1975 and helped to resolve the dispute with the CAHA. In 1976, the IIHF agreed to allow "open competition" between all players in the World Championships. However, NHL players were still not allowed to play in the Olympics, because of the unwillingness of the NHL to take a break mid-season and the IOC's amateur-only policy.<ref>{{harvnb|Podnieks|Szemberg|2007}}, [http://www.iihf.com/iihf-home/the-iihf/100-year-anniversary/100-top-stories/story-6.html Story #6–First Canada Cup opens up the hockey world] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807073011/http://www.iihf.com/iihf-home/the-iihf/100-year-anniversary/100-top-stories/story-6.html |date=2017-08-07 }}.</ref>

Before the [[1984 Winter Olympics]], a dispute formed over what made a player a professional. The IOC had adopted a rule that made any player who had signed an NHL contract but played less than ten games in the league eligible. However, the [[United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee|United States Olympic Committee]] maintained that any player contracted with an NHL team was a professional and therefore not eligible to play. The IOC held an emergency meeting that ruled NHL-contracted players were eligible, as long as they had not played in any NHL games.<ref name="Pod1984">{{Cite book|last=Podnieks|first=Andrew|title=Canada's Olympic Hockey Teams: The Complete History, 1920–1998|year=1997|publisher=[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday Canada]]|location=Toronto|isbn= 0-385-25688-4 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/canadasolympicho1920podn/page/147 147–158] |url= https://archive.org/details/canadasolympicho1920podn/page/147}}</ref> This made five players on Olympic rosters—one Austrian, two Italians and two Canadians—ineligible. Players who had played in other professional leagues—such as the [[World Hockey Association]]—were allowed to play.<ref name="Pod1984"/> Canadian hockey official [[Alan Eagleson]] stated that the rule was only applied to the NHL and that professionally contracted players in European leagues were still considered amateurs.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Eagleson upset over hockey dispute|work=The New York Times |author=Litsky, Frank|date=1984-01-25}}</ref> [[Murray Costello]] of the CAHA suggested that a Canadian withdrawal was possible.<ref>{{Cite news|title= Canada considers hockey withdrawal|work= The New York Times|date= 1984-02-05|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/05/sports/canada-considers-hockey-withdrawal.html|url-access= limited|access-date= 2021-08-25|archive-date= 2018-09-03|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180903150835/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/05/sports/canada-considers-hockey-withdrawal.html|url-status= live}}</ref> In 1986, the IOC voted to allow all athletes to compete in Olympic Games starting in 1988,<ref>{{Cite news|title=Players in NHL are now eligible in the Olympics|work= Toronto Star|author=Monsebraaten, Laurie|date=1986-10-15}}</ref> but let the individual sport federations decide if they wanted to allow professionals.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/olympics/owg98/osytr01.htm|title=Amateurism|date=1999-07-12|work=[[USA Today]]|access-date=2009-03-03|archive-date=2002-02-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020223021004/http://www.usatoday.com/olympics/owg98/osytr01.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

After the 1972 retirement of IOC President Brundage, the Olympic amateurism rules were steadily relaxed, amounting only to technicalities and lip service, until being completely abandoned in the 1990s (in the [[United States]], the [[Amateur Sports Act of 1978]] prohibits national governing bodies from having more stringent standards of amateur status than required by international governing bodies of respective sports.  The act caused the breakup of the [[Amateur Athletic Union]] as a wholesale sports governing body at the Olympic level).

Olympic regulations regarding amateur status of athletes were eventually abandoned in the 1990s with the exception of wrestling, where the amateur fight rules are used because professional wrestling is largely staged with predetermined outcomes. Starting from the [[2016 Summer Olympics]], professionals were allowed to compete in boxing, though amateur fight rules are still used for the tournament.<ref>{{Cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/02/sports/olympics/olympics-is-opening-its-rings-to-professional-boxers.html?_r=0|title = Olympics is Opening Its Rings to Professional Boxers|newspaper = The New York Times|date = March 2016|last1 = Mather|first1 = Victor|access-date = 2021-08-25|archive-date = 2021-08-25|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210825115147/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/02/sports/olympics/olympics-is-opening-its-rings-to-professional-boxers.html?_r=0|url-status = live}}</ref>