M’sia may be removed as para swimming host, says IPC

LONDON: Malaysia’s hosting of the para swimming championships in Sarawak is on the line following a decision to bar Israeli athletes from entering the country.

“Malaysia will not host any event that has representation from or participation of Israel,” said Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah.

Israel has called on the Inter­na­tional Paralympic Commit­tee (IPC) to change the venue if it could not persuade Malaysia to lift the edict before the July 29 to Aug 4 event.

The IPC said a decision would be issued today on Malaysia’s hosting of this year’s world para swimming championships.

The IPC governing board is meeting here to also discuss the suspension of Russia’s Paralympic committee and a spokesman said an update on Russia’s status would be made on Feb 8.

Russia has been barred from Para­ly­mpic competition since August 2016 over allegations of state-sponsored doping that also led to the suspension of the country’s athletics federation and its anti-­doping agency.