Israeli squash team says it will sue if it can’t compete in world championships in Malaysia next month
(iStock)
(JTA) — The Israel Squash Association said it would sue the World Squash Federation if the organization does not ensure the team can compete in the world championships scheduled to take place next month in Malaysia, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Israel and Malaysia do not maintain diplomatic relations and Israelis are barred from visiting the South Asian country. Malaysia’s former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad once said he was “glad to be labeled antisemitic.”
The competition, which begins Dec. 7, was originally set to be held in New Zealand but was moved to Malaysia as a result of COVID-19 restrictions in New Zealand.
Responding to a request by the president of the World Squash Federation, Gerard Monteiro, the head of the Malaysian squash organization, said the country “would not be able to guarantee [Israeli players’] safety and well-being.”
Aviv Bushinsky, chairman of the Israeli organization, suggested moving the competition to Israel.
“I find it impossible to believe that in this modern era, there is still a place for discrimination, as well as the mixing of political considerations and sport,” Israel’s Minister of Sport and Culture Chili Tropper said in a statement, according to the Jerusalem Post.
In 2019, the International Paralympic Association stripped Malaysia of the right to host the competition that year after the country refused to allow Israeli athletes to participate.
If the matter isn’t resolved, the Israeli team plans to sue the World Squash Federation at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, an independent court.
—
The post Israeli squash team says it will sue if it can’t compete in world championships in Malaysia next month appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
