KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian sports industry is being struck with more problems as there will likely be no more hosting of international competitions in the country following a statement issued by the International Olympic Council (IOC) last week.
IOC said that countries banning Israel cannot hold any competitions. This is following the recent fiasco that saw Malaysia lose the right of hosting the World Squash Team championships after Israeli players were not allowed to enter the country.
Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) secretary-general Datuk Mohammad Nazifuddin Najib told The Vibes that they have not been officially informed of this decision, adding that the international media have been covering this news since last week.
“We are still waiting for IOC to officially inform us about this, but we did discuss the matter during our recent meeting with IOC in Dubai,” he said.
“They had asked us to discuss with the government and come up with a solution or risk not hosting any competitions.
“We have written to the Ministry of Youth and Sports to bring this up in Parliament as this is a serious matter and requires a pragmatic solution. We hope the ministry will lead the way,” he said when contacted.
Nazifuddin at the same time added that OCM understands the government’s decision to not allow Israelis into the country, but this is sports and there should not be any politics involved.
He expressed hope that that this matter can be sorted out as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu, when contacted by The Vibes, said that he will bring up the issue in the next cabinet meeting and give the ministry’s opinion for deliberation.
Last week, a foreign news portal reported that the IOC plans to work with the national Olympic committees of Malaysia and Serbia to come up with a long-term solution with their governments, “failing which such countries would, unfortunately, exclude themselves from the right to host international sports events until all the necessary assurances can be obtained and respected.”
IOC cited the cancellation of the World Team Squash Championship, which was supposed to be held from December 7 to 11 in Malaysia over the country’s refusal to allow Israeli athletes into the country, as well as the AIBA World Boxing Championship which saw Kosovo’s boxing team disallowed to compete in Serbia. - The Vibes, December 30, 2021
