Malaysia has been stripped of the right to host the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships for threatening to refuse to allow Israeli athletes to take part, the International Paralympic Committee said on Sunday. IPC President Andrew Parsons said: “When a host country excludes athletes from a particular nation, for political reasons, then we have absolutely no alternative but to look for a new Championships host. Malaysia is one of several Muslim states that have no formal diplomatic ties with Israel. Malaysia has prevented Israeli athletes from competing in a sports event before. Kuala Lumpur also refused to host a conference for world football’s governing body FIFA in 2017 as an Israeli delegation was due to attend.

Source: Egypt Independent January 27, 2019 13:18 UTC