Malaysia’s Minister for Youth and Sports Khairy Jamaluddin (Wikipedia)
World Sailing is demanding that competitors from all countries be allowed to participate equally after two Israeli windsurfers were refused entry to the youth championships in Malaysia.
Insisting on equal opportunity for all competitors, World Sailing announced on Friday that it will level sanctions against any host nation that discriminates by refusing participants based on nationality.
The world governing body for sailing had launched a thorough investigation into reports that two Israeli windsurfers and their coach were refused visas to compete at the recent Youth Sailing World Championships in Langkawi, Malaysia.
Malaysian Youth and Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said earlier that the visa decision was “guided by the existing policy of the Malaysian government,” which does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
“In future, the organizers…of all international sailing competitions will be required to comply with specific conditions to ensure that all competitors from all countries can participate equally. If these conditions are not met, specific sanctions will be applied to any future international sailing competitions held in that country,” World Sailing stated, adding that details of the conditions will be published later this week.
