T'ganu exco wants answers after female divers compete in Sukma

Terengganu's exco in charge of sports is demanding answers after a directive against women divers participating in the 2024 Malaysian Games (Sukma) was not complied with.

Hishamuddin Abdul Karim said he will summon the state's sports council and the Terengganu Amateur Swim Association for a detailed explanation once the games are over.

"Further action will be taken once we have heard the explanation from the association," he said in a statement today.

The Terengganu state government had imposed a dress code for Muslim athletes, which barred female gymnasts and divers from the state from competing at Sukma due to the athletic wear for each sport not being syariah compliant.

However, Uzlifatil Jannah Ashraf and Ilyssa Ixora Imran still competed in Sukma, which is being held in Sarawak this year.

The two divers won bronze in the women's synchronised 10m platform competition while Uzlifatil also won bronze in the women's 1m springboard.

This led to taunts from Terengganu Amanah Youth chief Wan Hasbi Wan Ahmad against the PAS-led state government over alleged double standards in enforcing their syariah dress code policy.

In the dark

Hishamuddin said he had no idea that the two divers would be competing at the Sarawak games, and was shocked to learn that they did.

He said the Terengganu Amateur Swim Association sent the duo and they were self-funded but used Terengganu's Sukma quota.

The association had previously met him on June 5 to ask for an exemption against the dress code policy, but was denied, he added.

"At that time I had stressed that the state government could not grant (an exemption) because it violated the guidelines even if the athletes did not hail from Terengganu but were Muslims," he said.

He stressed in his statement twice that the dress code does not apply to non-Muslim athletes who could get exemptions from the state government to compete in diving competitions.

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