Sukma: T'ganu swim club apologises for sending female Muslim divers

The Terengganu Amateur Swim Association (Tasa) has apologised for sending female Muslim athletes to compete in the 2024 Malaysian Games (Sukma) without the state government’s approval.

Its president Toh Chin Yaw reportedly said Tasa signed the divers up for the games under its own initiative and the athletes were privately funded.

Therefore, he said, the association takes full responsibility for the decision.

“We previously held meetings with the Terengganu Sports Council and discussed rules and regulations the state has set (on athletes).

“During the meetings, we also submitted our application to enrol these athletes in Sukma because they have spent a lot of time practising and participating in overseas tournaments via our association.

“However, for this Sukma, we sent the athletes through Tasa’s own initiative, funded by the association and their parents,” he was quoted as saying by portal trdi.my today.

Earlier, Tasa held a meeting with Terengganu Youth, Sports and NGO Committee chairperson Hishamuddin Abdul Karim and Terengganu Sports Council director Ahmad Shahrizal Yahaya in Kuala Terengganu.

It followed the recent controversy surrounding the participation of two female Muslim athletes in Sukma 2024, where they represented Terengganu in diving.

Yesterday, Hishamuddin said he was not informed about the athletes’ participation beforehand, and stressed that the state government maintains its decision that bars female gymnasts and divers from the state from competing at Sukma due to the athletic wear not being syariah-compliant.

According to him, the Terengganu Sports Council had also been told not to send Muslim female athletes for the two categories due to the dress code.

Misunderstanding

Hishamuddin‘s explanation came after Malaysiakini reported about the athletes representing Terengganu despite its ban.

The incident had 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.

A former Terengganu gymnast, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also demanded an explanation from the state government.

Elaborating, Toh said the association had misunderstood the state’s dress code for Muslim athletes.

“We misunderstood the dress code, we thought it was just a normal issue because the dress code will usually be uniformed when it comes to any international competition.

“We realised we made a mistake after it became an issue.

“Our team manager always held discussions with the state exco where the issue of dress code was always mentioned, (but) we thought that there would be no problem if we just followed the dress code that had been set by the national swimming authority,” he added.

Terengganu diving sports manager Foo Wai Choo admitted that Hishamuddin had prohibited his office from sending any Muslim female athlete to Sukma due to the dress code issue.

“We will try to find talent from among non-Muslim athletes after this, as per the state government’s rule,” he was quoted as saying.

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