Youth Worlds - Brits express concern over world champions' exclusion

by Sail-World.com on 5 Jan 2016 The Royal Yachting Association has joined Yachting New Zealand, US Sailing and the Danish Sailing Association in publicly expressing its concern at the recently concluded ISAF/World Sailing Youth Championship, staged in Malaysia, in which two current world champions were excluded political reasons.

The Royal Yachting Association is the national authority for sailing and boating in the United Kingdom.

The statement issued today reads:

Participation in sailing must be open to all, on equal terms

The RYA shares the global concern over events which transpired to prevent the Israeli team from competing at the recent Youth World Sailing Championships in Malaysia.

At the same time, it is encouraging to see the international show of support for the young athletes concerned who have missed out on the opportunity of World Championship competition for reasons outside their control.

The World Sailing constitution is unequivocal that the sport is to be open for participation by all, on equal terms, without regard for race, religion, or any other factor.

The obligation to uphold this principle applies to all Member National Authorities and is especially important in events involving future generations of sailors.
Investigation

As such, the RYA asks that the investigation be swiftly and thoroughly concluded, and its findings shared transparently with the full World Sailing family.

World Sailing has pulled forward its regular February Executive Committee meeting to January 7-8, 2016 to consider the report on the exclusion of the two World Champions by the Malaysian authorities, from the world's most prestigious youth regatta.

It has transpired that the International Sailing Federation, now re-branded as World Sailing, knew about the strong possibility of competitors being denied the right to sail in the ISAF event at the time Malaysia was awarded the hosting of the regatta in November 2011.

The Israel Sailing Association withdrew their entry at the regatta after being sent a letter outlining seven conditions under which they would be allowed to compete. The conditions would have been abhorrent to any other country requiring the Israelis to compete as an anonymous team without the display of a national flag or anthem. Just three days before the start of the regatta, the Malaysians had not issued entry visas to the two world champions and their coach, and the Israel Sailing Association withdrew its entry on December 24.

It was the second or third similar incident involving an Israeli team in 2015 in world sailing championships, with the same ploy being used - the imposition of severe restrictions on the Israeli team displaying its nationality and extreme prevarication over the issuance of immigration documents necessary for the sailors to enter the host country.

Because of the complicity of the world body in the affair both in oversight and being listed as a co-organiser along with the Malaysian Sailing Association there are increasing calls for a completely independent inquiry, and public release of the investigation's full report into the incidents.