July 8 (Bloomberg) -- Middle Eastern oil and gas may yield gold at the Beijing Olympics.

Qatar and Bahrain have their best chance to win their first gold medals next month after recruiting foreign runners. The transplants won three medals at the 2007 world championships, including gold in the women's 1,500 meters for Bahrain's Maryam Yusuf Jamal, the former Zenebech Tola of Ethiopia.

Such nation-hopping vexes international sports officials, who've tightened eligibility rules to combat perceptions that athletes from poorer countries are resources for the highest bidder.

``We do not favor a situation whereby some countries literally buy a team by offering a lot of money to athletes of developing countries,'' International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge told Bloomberg Television. ``We are putting brakes on that. It is a worrying situation emerging in sport.''

Qatar, the world's largest liquefied natural gas exporter, said it's importing talent to nurture a sports culture among its 744,000 people. The kingdom opened the Aspire sports academy in 2004, hosted the 2006 Asian Games and bid unsuccessfully for the 2016 Olympics.

Its two Olympic medals -- both bronze -- were won by imports: Somalia-born Mohamed Sulaiman in the 1,500 meters at Barcelona, Spain, in 1992, and Bulgarian Said Saif Asaad in weightlifting at Sydney in 2000.

Buying Time

``Sometimes you need to have good examples for the new generation,'' said Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed al-Thani, a member of the ruling family and president of the Qatar Football Association. ``If there is no good example that you can find -- a star or champion -- from your country you need sometimes to buy the time to have good stars.''

Jamal, 24, is an ethnic Oromo, and tribal members oppose Ethiopian rule. She sought political asylum in Switzerland in 2002, so Ethiopia labeled her a traitor, according to her Web site. Switzerland refused citizenship because she didn't meet requirements including 12 years of residency.

She approached the U.S., Canada, France and Turkey before finding a home in Bahrain, where 70 percent of government revenue is tied to oil. She'll seek the kingdom's first Olympic medal.

``Had it not been for the circumstances, I would have competed for Ethiopia,'' Jamal, the first woman from a Gulf nation to win a world track medal, said in an e-mail. ``I feel that I made the best decision because the Bahrain federation gives me a lot of support.''

She didn't answer a question about her negotiations, and Bahrain Olympic officials didn't respond to e-mails or phone calls seeking comment.

Showing the Money

Foreign-born athletes have long competed for adopted nations. South African Zola Budd ran for Great Britain, her grandfather's homeland, in the 1984 games because of an apartheid-era ban against her country. Middle-distance runner Bernard Lagat, 33, runs for the U.S. after winning silver and bronze for Kenya.

The International Association of Athletics Federations approved at least 258 nationality transfers from 1998 through 2007, according to its Web site. Seven athletes switched to Qatar and four to Bahrain.

``They are getting the best athletes to change,'' said Lamine Diack, president of the Monaco-based IAAF. ``In Qatar, they can say if you are world champion, you can have half a million dollars.''

Rule Changes

Roland Schoeman, a South African swimmer who won gold, silver and bronze in Athens, said he rejected a $750,000-a-year offer from Qatar in 2005.

``I literally spent sleepless nights wondering, `Is it worth it to be a prized possession?''' said Schoeman, who makes $60,000 annually. ``It was more of a moral decision than anything else.''

At this year's cross-country world championships, Qatar finished third in the men's team event behind traditional powers Kenya and Ethiopia. Qatar's success triggered complaints from one neighboring state.

``It's Kuwaitis only for Kuwait,'' said Ali Y. Husain, treasurer of the nation's Olympic Committee. ``A Kuwaiti may win a bronze medal, but it's better than giving money to people from outside for a gold medal.''

To stem the tide, the IOC in 2002 ruled that athletes must wait three years between appearing for their native and adopted countries -- unless the home country waives that deadline.

The IAAF changed its rules in 2005 so the three-year hiatus starts when new citizenship is granted. Track's ruling body previously mirrored IOC requirements.

Qataris from Kenya

Qatar, with net oil export revenue of $26.3 billion last year, may send steeplechase world-record holder Saif Saaeed Shaheen, 25, to Beijing. He won the 2002 Commonwealth Games as Stephen Cherono of Kenya, where he earned $2,500 a year.

Shaheen defected for a lifetime salary of $1,000 a month, according to media reports. Rogge said he objected ``from a moral point of view.''

Shaheen clinched Qatar's first world title in 2003 and set a world record in 2004, earning what media reports said was a $100,000 bonus. He couldn't be reached for comment.

His Olympic teammates may include two former Kenyans: marathoner Mubarak Hassan Shami, 27, and 10,000-meter specialist Ahmad Hassan Abdullah, 26. Shami, the former Richard Yatich, said he switched because of easier competition for Olympic berths.

Abdullah, the former Albert Chepkurui, said: ``I can't say if there's any special reasons to switch to Qatar. Payment, I guess.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Dan Baynes in Sydney at dbaynes@bloomberg.net; Wing-Gar Cheng in Beijing at wgcheng@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 7, 2008 20:26 EDT