Asian Olympic officials upset that athletes stopped from competing

INCHEON South Korea (Reuters) - The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) has criticised the world governing bodies for basketball and men's tennis, saying they were preventing athletes from representing their countries at international events.

Asian Olympic officials upset that athletes stopped from competing

(Reuters)





The OCA took the unusual step of issuing the strongly worded statement "reminding sports governing bodies to protect the rights of athletes" after six tennis players pulled out of the Asian Games and the Qatar women's basketball team forfeited their first match.

"The right of the athletes must be the highest priority," said OCA Director General Husain Al-Musallam.

"Every athlete has the right to represent their country's flag without discrimination or without the threat of a financial penalty."

The OCA said six tennis players withdrew from the Asian Games, being held in South Korea, to play in the China Open, a professional event in Beijing, for fear of being fined $100,000 (60,971.892 pounds) and suspended for three years.

Then on Wednesday, the Qatar women's basketball team forfeited their opening match with Mongolia at the Asian Games after being refused permission to wear the hijab.

Under International Basketball Federation (FIBA) rules, players are not allowed to wear their Islamic headscarves in competition.

However, the Qatari players refused to take them off, saying it violated their religious beliefs, so were deemed to have lost the match on forfeit.

The OCA, which runs the Asian Games, took a dim view of both incidents.

"The authorities of both federations have the duty to protect their athletes and allow them to exercise their right of freedom of choice with dignity," said Al-Musallam.

The OCA also published a copy of two key points in the Olympic Charter and urged the sporting bodies to consider them.

"The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human dignity.

"Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement."





(Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: Reuters


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world