Malaysia stripped of Paralympic tournament over Israel
KUALA LUMPUR 27 Jan (ANA) - The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has stripped Malaysia of the right to host the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships, after the country banned Israeli athletes from participating.
The championships, a qualifier for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, had been scheduled for Kuching between July 29 and August 4.
The IPC said on Sunday a new venue would be sought for the same dates, although there might be some flexibility in light of the circumstances.
"All World Championships must be open to all eligible athletes and nations to compete safely and free from discrimination," said IPC president Andrew Parsons in a statement after a meeting of the IPC governing board in London.
"When a host country excludes athletes from a particular nation, for political reasons, then we have absolutely no alternative but to look for a new championships host."
Malaysia, a majority-Muslim country that does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, announced this month that it would bar Israelis from any event held in the Southeast Asian nation.
That followed a statement by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad that Israelis are not welcome in Malaysia.
"We feel that they are doing a lot of wrong things, but getting away with them because nobody dares to say anything against them," he said during his visit to London.
Israel had condemned the ban as "shameful" and said the decision was inspired by Mahathir's "rabid anti-Semitism".
Mahathir, 93, has for decades been accused of anti-Semitism for his attacks against Jews.
In a BBC interview last October, he described Jews as "hook-nosed" and blamed them for the troubles in the Middle East.(ANA)
FA/ANA/27 January 2019-------