Well the problem is the word may which is noncommittal and effectively leaves the matter to editors discretion so that a consensus has to be reached Im sorry I dont understand the term flagcruft The relevance is that the teams were multinational and in most team sports where international matches take place eg football cricket rugby etc the nationality of an individual player is deemed noteworthy For example why do Liverpool fans nowadays display the Uruguay flag at matches Nationality is relevant and flagicons are simply a graphic means of conveying the information