PARIS: Malaysia has been stripped of the right to host the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships for threatening to refuse to allow Israeli athletes to take part, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said on Sunday.

The decision was taken after the Malaysian authorities “failed to provide the necessary guarantees that Israeli Para swimmers could participate, free from discrimination, and safely in the championships”, the IPC said in a statement.

IPC President Andrew Parsons said: “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. All World Championships must be open to all eligible athletes and nations to compete safely and free from discrimination.”

The championships, a qualifying event for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, were due to take place in Kuching from July 29 to Aug 4.

Parsons said that in September 2017, the IPC received assurances that all eligible athletes and countries would be allowed to participate in the event with their safety assured.

“Since then, there has been a change of political leadership and the new Malaysian government has different ideas ... We are disappointed that Israeli athletes would not have been allowed to compete in Malaysia,” he said.

Malaysia said earlier this month it would refuse to host events that have Israeli participation.

Responding to Sunday’s decision, Malaysia’s Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said: “If hosting an international sporting event is more important than standing up for our Palestinian brothers and sisters who get murdered, maimed and tortured by the Netanyahu regime, that means Malaysia has truly loss its moral compass.

“Malaysia stands firm with our decision on the ground of humanity and compassion for the Palestinian plight. We will not compromise,” the minister added.

The Palestinian cause has widespread support in Malaysia and thousands took to the streets in protest when US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in 2017.

Malaysia has prevented Israeli athletes from competing in a sports event before. Two Israeli windsurfers had to pull out of a competition on the island of Langkawi after they were refused visas in 2015.

Kuala Lumpur also refused to host a conference for world football’s governing body FIFA in 2017 as an Israeli delegation was due to attend.

Published in Dawn, January 28th, 2019