Malaysia stripped of Paralympic event

What to know?

• Malaysia has been stripped of the hosting rights for the World Para Swimming Championships after refusing to let Israelis compete in the event that serves as a qualifying event for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
• The Malaysian government announced that no Israeli delegates can enter Malaysia for sporting or other events in solidarity with the Palestinians. Malaysia does not have diplomatic relations with Israel.
• The International Paralympic Committee governing board decided to take the event from Malaysia after it failed to provide the necessary guarantees that Israeli Para swimmers could participate, free from discrimination, and safely in the championships.
• This includes full compliance with the IPC protocols related to anthems and flags, and where required the provision of relevant visas.Israel’s Paralympics governing body also welcomed the decision.With the IPC looking for a new host, the deadline for expressions of interest is Feb. 11.

2020 Summer Paralympics 

• The 2020 Summer Paralympicsare an upcoming major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee.
• Scheduled as the 16th Summer Paralympic Games, it is planned to be held in Tokyo, Japan from 25 August to 6 September 2020.
• This will mark the second time Tokyo has hosted the Paralympics, as they were first hosted there in 1964 alongside the 1964 Summer Olympics.
• These Games will see the introduction of badminton and taekwondo to the Paralympic programme, with the removal of sailing and 7-a-side football.

Sports

• Events in 22 sports will be held during the 2020 Summer Paralympics.
• Cycling events will be split into road and track Team events of goalball, sitting volleyball, and wheelchair basketball continue as men’s and women’s events,
• wheelchair rugby continues to be a mixed event, while 5-a-side-football will only be open to male competitors. New events and classifications have also been added or realigned in other sports.

New sports

• In January 2014, the IPC began accepting bids for new sports to be added to the Paralympic programme; they included amputee football, badminton, electric wheelchair hockey, powerchair football, and taekwondo.
• New disciplines were also proposed in existing events, including visually impaired match racing and one-person multi-hull in sailing, and 3-on-3 basketball in intellectually disabled (ID) and wheelchair classifications.
• On 31 January 2015, the IPC officially announced that badminton and taekwondo had been added to the Paralympic programme for 2020, which will replace 7-a-side football and sailing (both dropped due to an insufficient international reach).

(International, Sports)(The hindu)

Pic courtesy:Al Jazeera