Israel blocked at Youth Worlds- “a normal procedure” says OC Malaysia

by Guy Nowell, Sail-World.com on 29 Dec 2015 Olympic Council of Malaysia says the Israeli sailors must abide by the pre-set terms and conditions set by the government of Malaysia. [But apparently Malaysia is not bound by the terms of the contractual documentation pertaining to a WS (ISAF) Youth World Championship. This translates as “We’ll do or demand as we like, and take no notice of any other obligations to which we have agreed.']

“The conditions set for two Israeli sailors to participate in the 2015 International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Youth World Sailing Championship (YWC) is a normal practice,” says Sieh Kok Chi, Assistant Secretary to the Olympic Council of Malaysia. “The sailors have to adhere to the terms for the championship to be held in Langkawi 27 Dec-3 Jan.”

“Generally, if there are participants from Israel, there are conditions set by the Malaysian government. Even in the past, we have told them of the conditions and they were not happy.

“There have been Israeli representatives in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) session. But the Malaysian Sailing Association (MSA) must look at the conditions set by the ISAF. I’m not so sure about the competition rules,” the former OCM Honorary Secretary told Bernama, the Malaysian National News Agency.

ISAF is now known as World Sailing (WS).

The Israel Sailing Association (ISA) announced Wednesday that its two young windsurfers, Yoav Omer and Noy Drihan together with their coach Meir Yaniv would withdraw from the tournament, blaming Malaysia for ‘unacceptable’ demands.

The Israeli sailors are forbidden from flying the Israel flag or any symbol on their attire and surfboards, while the national anthem would not be played if any of the sailors emerged winners.

Kok Chi however warned that, ISAF could revoke the tournament’s title if the organisers breached the terms and conditions set by the federation.

“There is a possibility that the ISAF can withdraw the championship if the conditions are breached but I am not sure… we must refer to the conditions,” said Kok Chi, who has 23 years of experience in sports administration.

Recently, the IOC Executive Board revoked the Olympic Qualifying Status of the Asian Shooting Championships in Kuwait that was scheduled 1-12 November after the International Shooting Sports Federation’s Technical Delegate Yair Davidovich was denied a visa by the Kuwaiti Immigration Department.

Besides that, another reason for revoking was because the Kuwait Olympic Committee was suspended by the IOC due to government interference in the rules of the Olympic Charter, where the Committee is not entitled to participate in any activities related to the Olympic Movement.

Meanwhile, Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin when contacted by Bernama, said: “We accept the decision by the Israeli Youth Team to withdraw from participating in the ISAF YWC 2015. As this is a diplomatic issue, we are guided by the existing policy of the Malaysian Government.”

World Sailing President Carlo Croce said a member of the World Sailing Executive is on the way to Malaysia to investigate the issue and would seek clarification from the Malaysian Organising committee and authorities.

“World Sailing expects the organising committee to allow sailors from all nations to compete on an equal basis. This expectation is made clear in the bid process and is set out in the contractual documentation governing our events,” he said in a statement on its official website, www.sailing.org.

Croce added, “As with all diplomatic issues this is quite a delicate matter. World Sailing is aware of the current commentary in the public arena, and have reason to believe that some of the comments may not be accurate or possibly based on misunderstandings. World Sailing is committed to ensuring participation in our sport by competitors from all nations, and is taking this issue seriously.”

“World Sailing expects the organising authority of its events to allow sailors from all nations to compete on an equal basis. This expectation is made clear in the bid process and is set out in the contractual documentation governing our events. World Sailing is not in a position to comment on this further until our investigation is complete.” (Please Mr Croce, make some effort to enforce this 'expectation').

Croce did not say what penalty, if any, would be imposed on the Malaysia, the OCM and/or the MSA for abject failure to honour the terms governing the bid process and the contractual documentation pertaining to a Youth World Championship.