SPORTS Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu has made it clear to international sports federations that Malaysia stands firm behind its decision to not allow Israeli athletes to compete here.
Faizal said as Malaysia has no diplomatic relations with Israel, they are not allowed to enter the country for any activities, including sports.
"The immigration (department) will not allow them to enter the country, not the Sports Ministry nor the (local) organisers," said Faizal.
"When international federations decide to appoint Malaysia as a host country for international competitions, they should be well aware that we do not allow Israeli athletes to compete.
"The whole world understands that we do not have any diplomatic relations with Israel.
"It's not like we have never hosted any international sporting events before this, because we have."
The World Squash Federation (WSF) and Squash Racquets Association of Malaysia (SRAM) on Monday announced that the men's World Team Championships, scheduled to be held in Kuala Lumpur on Dec 7-12, has been cancelled.
WSF disclosed that this was due to "the possibility that some nations would be unable to compete due to the lack of confirmation over the issuing of visas and travel authorisation by the national authorities (of Malaysia)" as well as growing concerns over the new Omicron Covid-19 variant.
Meanwhile, Faizal urged Malaysians to not let their guard down as the Omicron variant could pose a new threat in the fight against Covid-19.
"We will be competing in many international competitions next year, and I am hoping that the pandemic, including the new variant which has worried many nations and led them to shut their borders, will have subsided by then," added Faizal.
"We do not know that much about this new variant and we do not know where it will strike next.
"We advise those who have plans to go to high-risk nations to avoid from doing so, and will also get more feedback from the Health Ministry as well as the National Security Council.
"It is important that we do not let our guard down now and must practise strict self-SOP (Standard Operating Procedure).
"We have allowed 20,000 fans to watch the Malaysia Cup final tonight (yesterday), and it is imperative they follow the SOP," said Faizal after launching the new National Sports Council complex in Nilai.