A group of NGOs have criticised the Olympic Council Malaysia for its "hurried" response after its secretary-general Mohammad Nazifuddin Najib raised concern that Malaysia may not be able to host the international future sporting competition for banning Israeli athletes.
The group of 29 NGOs, including BDS Malaysia and Viva Palestina Malaysia Malaysia, said the Olympic Council Malaysia "seems to be afraid of shadows" for their "hurried and pessimistic" reaction.
Nazifuddin (above) was quoted by The Vibes as saying that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had conveyed to him during a meeting in Dubai that Malaysia risks not hosting international sports competitions.
However, the NGOs noted that the IOC has yet to make an official statement on the matter.
"We would like to point out that the report on the warning by the IOC was actually from the Israeli press. It was not reported at all by any other news agency.
"As such, the news is most likely part of the Zionist regime’s propaganda to put pressure on Malaysia and any country that seek to boycott Israel.
"Unfortunately, the leadership of the Malaysian Olympic Council seems to be afraid of shadows as reflected in their hurried and pessimistic statement even though the IOC has neither issued any official statement nor contacted the Malaysian government officially on the matter," the NGOs said in a joint statement.
The Jerusalem Post last month reported a letter from the IOC urging international sporting federations to ensure athletes from all countries could compete and be treated equally without any political discrimination.
The letter reportedly cited Malaysia’s decision to refuse Israeli athletes entry to the World Team Squash Championship and Serbia’s move to ban the Kosovo team from competing in the AIBA World Boxing Championship as examples.
The IOC said it wanted to work with both countries to come up with a long-term solution “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.”
Nazifuddin had said that the Olympic Council Malaysia was still waiting for an official notice.
"We are still waiting for the IOC to officially inform us about this, but we did discuss the matter during our recent meeting with the IOC in Dubai...
“They had asked us to discuss with the government and come up with a solution or risk not hosting any competitions," he was quoted as saying.
The NGOs criticised the Olympic Council Malaysia for not being sensitive to the plight of Palestinians who are facing Israeli occupation.
"Thousands of Palestinians have been killed while thousands more have been injured and brutally imprisoned by the Israeli regime.
"Their lands have been and are being confiscated while thousands of their houses have been and are being demolished by the Israeli Zionist regime.
"Therefore, the Malaysian Olympic Council should be giving strong support to the Malaysian government's efforts to increase awareness in the international community of the atrocities committed by Israel towards Palestinians," they said.
They added that the IOC should expel Israel and sports associations should boycott the country, similar to the action against South Africa when it practised apartheid policies.
"We also call on the Malaysian government to continue to maintain its commendable stance of non-normalisation with the Israeli apartheid regime and not allow any Israeli delegation to enter Malaysia," it said. - Mkini
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