KUALA LUMPUR, June 8 (NNN-Bernama) — The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) will write to the International Olympic Council (IOC) and Japan to seek clarification on a report that athletes from 10 countries, including Malaysia, will be barred from the Tokyo Olympics.
OCM president Mohamad Norza Zakaria said a written confirmation was vital to quash speculations, especially with the postponed Olympic Games all set to be held from July 23-Aug 8.
“It’s (report) not true… notices given only relate to Immigration rules for general visitors from a few countries, including Malaysia. However, we are sending an email to the IOC and Japan to get (an answer in) black and white so that we can eliminate speculations,” he told Bernama when contacted.
Norza also confirmed that the OCM were in constant communication with the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games and did not receive any such information.
An English daily today reported that the Japanese government had released a circular to the Organising Committee to “deny entry” to 10 countries experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases recently.
The report further stated that if the committee were unable to bar entry of the athletes, stricter measures would be imposed on them, including undergoing a 14-day quarantine.
Apart from Malaysia, the other countries named in the report included India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Vietnam and the United Kingdom.
As of 5pm, the Japanese Embassy in Kuala Lumpur has yet to reply to Bernama’s queries on the matter.
Meanwhile, the IOC said the border control measure was purely a government jurisdiction.
“We have been informed by the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee that while border control measure is purely a government jurisdiction, Tokyo 2020 will continuously work closely together with the national government for safe and secure participation of all athletes to the Games,” the IOC said in an email reply to Bernama.
According to the Fundamental Principles of Olympism in the Olympic Charter, “every individual must have the possibility of practising sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play”.
“The enjoyment of the rights and freedoms set forth in this Olympic Charter shall be secured without discrimination of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status,” states the charter.
But it is unsure if the IOC would compromise the charter with the unprecedented pandemic situation as the 14-day quarantine would be disadvantageous to the involved athletes as their rivals would be able to train and make final preparations.
The Olympic and Paralympic Games, which were originally scheduled to be held in 2020, were postponed for a year due to the pandemic.
