London has been confirmed as the new host city for the 2019 World Para-swimming Championships after Malaysia was stripped of the rights for its refusal to allow Israeli athletes compete.
The competition was scheduled to be staged in Kuala Lumpur in July, but Malaysia—a majority muslim country—has expressed concern with Israel’s poor treatment of Palestinians. The country’s Minister for Sport recently doubled down on his nation’s outlook on the matter, per BBC Sport.
The rearranged World Para-Swimming Championships will now be held at the London Aquatics Centre from Monday, September 9 to Sunday, September 15.
International Paralympic Committee (IPC) president Andrew Parsons said:
“I cannot thank the Mayor of London, UK Sport and British Swimming enough for their outstanding efforts stepping in to stage and support this Championships, a key Tokyo 2020 qualifier, at such short notice. I have no doubt the whole of the Para-swimming community will be appreciative of the efforts they have made to organise this competition.”
Photo by InsideTheGames
