KUALA LUMPUR – The National Sports Council (MSN) has been ordered to obtain an initial report on the withdrawal of the gold medal from national shot put champion Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu said that he also ordered MSN and the Malaysian Paralympic Council to set up an investigation committee to look into the incident comprehensively.
He said the committee was asked to provide a further action plan to be taken on the official protest and appeal, which had been done, and come up with an approach to address the same incident if it recurs in future.
“I also wish to urge all quarters against pointing fingers at anyone in this matter.
“But most importantly, all quarters including the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and World Para Athletics (WPA) must look again at all regulations including those requiring wisdom in managing them,” he said in a statement today.
At the same time, he gave his assurance that Ziyad would still be received as a hero with national pride upon his arrival at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Friday.
Yesterday, the world sports arena was rocked by a shocking incident in Tokyo after Ziyad was denied as the winner of the gold medal in the F20 men’s shot put event (intellectual disability) with a record throw of 17.94, a new world record.
He was classified as “Did Not Start”, or having not started the competition following protests conducted against him by the Ukrainian team, who claimed the shot put champion was late to report himself at the waiting room before the competition took place.
The controversy on the seventh day of the prestigious event saw Ukrainian athlete Maksym Koval announced as the winner of the gold medal, with a throw of 17.34 m to simultaneously break the world record belonging to Ziyad at 17.29 m, which the latter created at the 2017 London World Para Athletics Championship.
Meanwhile, Faizal said the Youth and Sports Ministry viewed the incident seriously and regretted the procedure of the organising committee, especially the WPA and IPC, in considering the situation and the actual circumstances, besides the aspiration and spirit in the organising of the Paralympics.
“We are disappointed because in our utter faithfulness in standing behind IPC to support the games, which are conducted in a life-threatening situation for our athletes, a slight delay was not given appropriate consideration, if it actually took place.
“What’s more, the athletes had waited for five years but their hopes and spirits were destroyed by a delay of not even five minutes – not only to one athlete, but three from three countries and this is something which is very sad,” he added. – Bernama, September 1, 2021
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