Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli speaks to the media at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, September 3, 2021. — Bernama pic
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 23 — The Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) is mulling the possibility of taking the issue of national shot putter Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli’s disqualification from the event at the recent Tokyo Paralympics to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) if its appeal to the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and World Para Athletics (WPA) falls on deaf ears.
Its minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu that his ministry would first seek a special hearing session with the IPC and WPA regarding the appeal that was submitted previously.
“The KBS will also study the views of the internal investigation committee that was set up to come up with a follow-up action plan together with the Paralympic Council of Malaysia (PCM) and Malaysian Para Athletics Association (MPAA) regarding the incident,” he said when winding up the debate on the motion of thanks for the royal address at the Dewan Rakyat sitting, here, today.
On August 31, Muhammad Ziyad was denied the gold medal in the men’s F20 (intellectual impairment) shot put event despite his world record-breaking attempt of 17.94m at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
The 31-year-old athlete was classified as ‘Did Not Start’ (DNS) following protests lodged by the Ukrainian team, who claimed he was late to report the call room prior to the event.
Following the incident, Ahmad Faizal said the KBS would improve the standard operating procedure on athlete participation in international multi-sports Games, especially those involving para athletes so that such an incident would not recur.
Meanwhile, he said the KBS planned to develop a comprehensive and holistic sports industry policy to ensure the country’s sports industry sector was developed in an organised, orderly and competitive manner.
“Serious attention deserves to be given to the sports industry sector as it has the capability to contribute significantly to Malaysia’s economy, although this industry is just two decades old. The sports industry has a huge potential for us to explore,” he said. — Bernama