Israeli para-swimmers are being denied visas to enter the country for the 2019 World Para Swimming World Championships in Malaysia due to a lack of diplomatic relations between the Jewish and Muslim nations, Israeli news outlet YNet News reported Sunday.
From July 29th to August 4th, 2019, the Malaysian city of Kuching is set to host hundreds of swimmers from 70 countries for the meet, which is one of the possible qualifying opportunities for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. To be eligible for Tokyo, para-swimmers are supposed to have competed at either a WPS World Series event, Worlds, any WPS Regional or Regional Open Championships, or the 2019 Parapan American Games in the timeframe of October 1, 2018 through the 2020 WPS European Open Championships (the dates of which have yet to be announced).
“For some time now we have been trying to guarantee our participation in the world championships. In principle, everyone says that it will work out, but we have still not received an invitation or visas,” Nisim Sasportas, chairman of the Israeli Olympic Committee, told YNet. “We are continuing to apply pressure. We have letters of support from the International Paralympics Committee, the European Paralympics Committee and the Olympic Athletes Committee, and hope that they allow the athletes and their security entourage to participate.”
According to YNet, officials with the Israel Paralympics Committee have tried to involve the country’s Ministry of Sport and Culture, as well as Israeli member of the International Olympic Committee Alex Gilady, but efforts have gone unanswered thus far.
Ahh the ole NGO’s hate Israel
Its seems pretty short sighted for the IPC to overlook this issue when awarding the swim meet. I would think it would be in the contract or vetted that all eligible swimmers will be granted a visa unless there are extraordinary circumstances. I guess meet organizers cant control the issuance of visas but they should confirm or affirm that visas for sports competitions currently have no restrictions placed on them by the host government.
It probably is in the contract. Malaysia’s government is probably calling the IPC’s bluff (or the contract wasn’t signed with Malaysia’s government).
You are right they just need to follow through and make a contingency plan to move it if it’s not cleared up soon
Enough of this nonsense. If North Korea can compete against South Korea in sport. If Iran and Iraq and many other countries in conflict with each other can compete against each other the Arab and Muslim countries can compete against Israel. We don’t have to agree with each other let alone like each other but the playing fields, courts, mats and pools are meant to allow a place where we can compete against the best regardless. If you can’t accept this then stay home, if a country can’t accept this then don’t host an event. This is a Para event and you do this? Seriously?!! You’re either in or your out, no equivocating. As a life long lover of this… Read more »
Zaq brilliantly stated mate!!!
That’s not quite a fair statement. The IOC has suspended the Kuwaiti Olympic Committee and stripped events of Olympic Qualifying status multiple times after they failed to grant visas to Israeli athletes: https://www.jpost.com/International/Kuwait-disqualified-by-Olympic-Committee-after-denying-Israeli-delegate-visa-430531
Not the first time something like this has happened to Israeli athletes travelling or competing in Islamic nations. I understand the sensitivities, but Federations should really start ensuring these things wont occur before awarding events to hosts. You have no place hosting a global sporting event if you want to ban athletes from a particular nation. Hate to think about what will happen if Israel qualify for the 2022 World Cup…
No danger of that happening since Israeli football team is terrible. Also, US wasn’t very forthcoming in issuing visa for Russian wrestling team to the World Cup event last year, should US be stripped of the event as well?
I am not an American, and certainly not a fan of US foreign policy, but this is how I see the situation; Malaysia, like most Islamic nations, make no attempt to deny the fact that the won’t grant Israelis VISAs for purely political reasons. It’s cited in Malaysian news as well as Israeli that diplomatic relations between the two nations is the reason – Malaysia actually do not recognise Israeli passports at all – No Israeli can fly into Malaysia.
As for the US situation; If it was established that the USA govt acted on political will to ‘ban’ Russian athletes? Yes, they should absolutely be stripped. However, there is a reason (as you know) the Russian wrestlers had… Read more »
True. I flew into the US with a Russian just 2 weeks ago.
I think at the end of the day the IPC will intervene and the meet will be moved or the visas will be granted. There’s no way that the IPC, after taking a very strong stand against Russia re: anti-doping, will just let this slide.
Hmmm, your writings seem in line with US foreign policy.
Re the world wrestling championships: Apparently the visa applications from the Russians were submitted very late and interviews had to be made within 72 hours, which was unrealistic in the the best case scenario, even if the US Embassy had not been short-staffed. https://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/russian-athletes-will-not-attend-iowa-citys-wrestling-world-cup-20180402
So is it OK to discriminate against Jewish/Israel athletes but not against Islamic interests in the world … Malaysia should be stripped of the meet ..
I took some time to try to understand in Wikipedia what is happening.
Don’t you guys get it? It is never about prejudice and discrimination. It is about fighting for the justice of the oppressed. When you see civilians, your families and children being systematically gunned down by military troops, perhaps you will say something different.
Move the meet if they don’t get the Visas done