KUALA LUMPUR – National Paralympic hero, Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli, should be rewarded for his gold medal performance in the final of the F20 shot put event (intellectual impairment) category despite being disqualified by the Games’ organising committee.
Ziyad, who won the gold with a world record-breaking throw of 17.94 metres, was subsequently disqualified after the Ukrainian team lodged a protest with the technical committee, resulting in Ukraine bagging both gold and silver medals, and Greece nabbing the bronze.
The decision to punish the Malaysian as well as two other athletes from Australia and Ecuador is based on Rule 5.5 of the World Para Athletics (WPA) rules and regulations regarding ‘failure to report to the call room’.
As the current policy is to reward those with medals, Youth and Sports minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu, told The Vibes that a case like Ziyad’s could have never been anticipated.
“Nevertheless, in Ziyad’s case, I will work out a special reward, which I will propose and present to the cabinet next week,” he said.
Faizal added that he was disappointed with the decision made by the Games’ organising committee.
“With the pandemic going on and the years of training; it has all been in vain because Ziyad was slightly late. I know rules are rules but, in sports, we need to also have some compassion.
“I would like to thank the officials from Australia and Ecuador for their support and I would like to remind everyone to stay calm and not point fingers and accuse any parties for this (outcome).
“I have asked the National Sports Council (NSC) and MPC to work together and have a plan for action on this matter moving forward.
“I will personally welcome the return of Ziyad when he returns on Friday. He has done well and made the country proud, and I hope the people of Malaysia will continue to support our Paralympian hero,” Faizal said.
In echoing the minister, Malaysian Paralympic Council (MPC) president, Datuk Seri Megat D. Shahriman Zaharudin, said that he also hopes the government would consider rewarding Ziyad for his outstanding performance in the Paralympics.
“I hope Ziyad would get rewarded despite the decision of the Games’ organising committee to disqualify him on a technical issue,” said Megat, who is also chef de mission (CDM) of the Malaysian Paralympic contingent to Tokyo.
Earlier, the WPA noted that the Jury of Appeal had upheld the referee’s decision and confirmed Ziyad’s status as Did Not Start (DNS).
According to Megat, the organising committee did inform CDM that all protests and appeals can be made in writing to IPC and World Para Athletics, but it can only be done after the end of the Tokyo Paralympic Games.
“We are not done yet. We will make another appeal after everything is over. As the president of MPC, I will do everything in my capacity to help Ziyad,” said Megat in a virtual press conference today.
“After this morning’s CDM meeting, I met Ziyad and explained to him the situation. He was relieved after being informed of the outcome of the meeting and hoped that the incident would not affect the focus of the country's athletes, who will still be competing in Tokyo.”
Megat added that he was also obtaining the CCTV footage in the call room and waiting area of the Olympic Stadium to get a clear situation of the incident for the purpose of evidence in pursuing further action.
“We would like to review the CCTV footage and better understand the situation,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, National Sports Council (NSC) director general, Datuk Ahmad Shapawi Ismail, believes that the reason for the congestion at the Olympic Stadium (and Ziyad’s failure to comply with Rule 5.5 of the WPA regulations) was because the para-athletes were training from 3pm at the warm-up track and there was a heavy downpour.
“I was told that Ziyad was late by 2 minutes and that was also because the call-room judge had held him up near the barricade to allow athletes participating in other events to go through first.
“If it was more than 5 minutes, I would understand, and it would have been a fair call. At the same time, the F20 event was not disrupted (in any way) as it began on time.
“I hope the relevant bodies review (the matter) again,” said Shapawi. – The Vibes, September 1, 2021
