Stop picking on athletes' attire, says Yeoh after fake pics of diver spreads

Youth and Sports Minister Hannah Yeoh has urged Malaysians to stop commenting on the attire of athletes after altered explicit images of a national diver were circulated on the internet.

In a Facebook post, Yeoh also shared a South China Morning Post report on national diver Nur Dhabitah Sabri’s husband, who is taking legal action against an unnamed individual for allegedly editing and uploading lewd images of the athlete.

“Leave our athletes alone with regard to their sports attire! Stop imposing your preference on them.

“They have one priority alone - to excel in their sports,” she said on Facebook.

Yeoh said people should quit imposing their own preferences on what athletes should wear as the athletes’ sole focus is on their sporting performance.

According to Utusan Malaysia, Dhabitah’s husband, Mohammad Aizat Ahmad Nazri, said that a legal notice had been issued to the individual based on statements by an investigating officer and a lawyer.

“The images have reached an insulting and degrading level,” the actor-comedian said.

He said he had received two such images since Aug 8, when Dhabitah made it to the semi-finals of the women’s 3m springboard diving event during the recently concluded Paris Olympics.

Aizat asked the public to pray for Dhabitah and to support her, adding his hopes that she remains resilient.

Proud of Dhabitah

Besides that, he expressed his pride in Dhabitah’s accomplishments.

“I still remember how she initially refused to go to Paris because she was not prepared to fight there. In fact, she didn’t even have a coach.

“But she took the risk and also accepted this challenge on the basis of responsibility, and when she made it to the final stage, that was enough gold for me,” he said.

Dhabitah, a five-time Asian Games medallist, scored 244.80 points overall to finish 12th after five dives during the finals.

National diving technical director Bryan Nickson Lomas told Bernama that he did not expect Dhabitah to make major errors during her event but said she had improved since her 238.15 points at the 2024 World Aquatic Championship in Doha in February.

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