# Rules of participation in the Olympics: Amateur vs. Professional
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-of-participation-in-the-olympics-amateur-vs-professional/260360
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 18, 2004, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-of-participation-in-the-olympics-amateur-vs-professional/260360 "2004-08-18T05:52:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 2
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2004, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-of-participation-in-the-olympics-amateur-vs-professional/260360/1 "2004-08-18T05:52:13Z")
I can’t seem to understand the rules of participation at the Olympics.
I recall that the Olympics has some rule about only amateur athletes participating, but some events allow professionals. [Football](http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Football_at_the_Summer_Olympics) (Soccer) has some twisted rules. The rest of the sports I can’t figure out.
Can someone explain in clear and simple terms what the rules are. What is the Olympics definition of “amateur” and “professional”? And what’s the logic behind the rules for these specific sports? And why is there no uniformity?
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### Author:  [@Ponster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponster)
#### Post date: [August 18, 2004, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rules-of-participation-in-the-olympics-amateur-vs-professional/260360/2 "2004-08-18T08:13:19Z")
Ahh, the same question came up last week !
Answered by **RealityChuck**
[here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=269783)