First, let us take the Olympics in an attempt to clarify this confusion that seems to exist today over the word 'Amateur' as asked by Felix

AMATEURISM & THE OLYMPIC GAMES -... from AA Foundation Olympic Primer

Baron de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games, envisioned contests in which young men competed only for the love of sport without the promise of financial reward. A vision which was the basis for the concept of amateurism that governed Olympic eligibility for nearly 100 years.

It was a view rooted in the social milieu of the late 19th century, a time when only men of wealth could endure the expenses that accompanied a life of sport. In fact, early definitions of amateurism were based on distinctions of social class. Persons from lower economic classes were defined as non-amateurs.

But as sports became increasingly popular, people from a wider range of social classes participated and opportunities for profit appeared. These changes challenged the International Olympic Committee's strict definition of amateur status as the basis for Olympic eligibility. The most notable case of an athlete losing Olympic eligibility for violating the amateur code is that of 1912 gold medallist, Jim Thorpe, of the United States. Thorpe was stripped of his Olympic medals because he had earned a small amount of money playing semi-professional baseball two years before the 1912 Stockholm Games. Thorpe's medals were returned to his family by the IOC in 1982.

Avery Brundage, president of the International Olympic Committee from 1952-1972, was a fervent defender of amateurism. Brundage maintained that the high ideals of Olympism would be destroyed if athletes were allowed to profit from sport. He believed that commercialism would destroy higher motivations of fair play and moral development. One consequence of Brundage's policy, however, was that dishonesty and secret payments plagued the Olympic Games during his tenure.

After Brundage retired as IOC president, the IOC re-evaluated its position on amateurism. Realizing that its rules discriminated against athletes without wealth and that, in some countries, state-supported training made athletes de facto professionals, the IOC gradually eliminated "amateur" status as a condition for Olympic eligibility. The word amateur was finally removed from the Olympic Charter during the 1970s. The international federations governing individual Olympic sports were given responsibility for determining Olympic eligibility following the 1981 IOC Congress and Session at Baden-Baden, Germany. Since that time, an increasing number of federations have modified their rules to allow professionals to compete in the Games.

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Next, you should look at how various Government agencies may view a "Amateur Association" status, in particular, as they pertain to taxation, culpability of its members, especially as it applies to litigation, and endless other regulations and it's application to it's potential for liability should a breach occur.

More importantly perhaps is what criteria sporting bodies needs to be cognitive of to get access to the various funding agencies, this will very from country to country. Generally these issues and regulations apply to various sports association and NOT to individual athletes.

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So what are we're down to .... what each association defines as "amateur".

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