MASUM WITHDRAWS FROM UNIVERSIADE DUE TO INFLUENZA A OUTBREAK
>> August 08, 2009
>> My first world class meet in athletics destroyed by the ministry's decision...
KUALA LUMPUR, June 18 (Bernama)-- The Malaysian Universities Sports Council (MASUM) has decided to withdraw from the World University Games (Universiade) in Belgrade, Serbia next month, following a directive from the Higher Education Ministry.
According to the Higher Education Ministry's Sports Division secretary Dr Shaharudin Ismail, the directive was issued to MASUM so as avoid any risk of the Influenza A(H1NI) outbreak.
Dr Shaharudin said the directive was in line with advise from the Health Ministry, National Sports Institute and National Sports Council to prevent athletes from the risk of being infected by the disease.
"Although Serbia is free from H1N1, the risk of infection remains high as the Universiade will see participation from all over the world and athletes will be exposed to infection," he told Bernama when contacted here today.
He added that MASUM would do the necessary procedures for the withdrawal and hoped the organisers of the Universiade would understand the reason for the withdrawal.
>>earlier article on newspaper;
The Universiade is an International multi-sport event, organised for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU) every two years and would feature university students from all over the world from July 1-12.
MASUM was expected to send 30 athletes to Belgrade in batches on June 24, June 28 and July 1 while selected athletes were supposed to check into the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) campus on June 20, for centralised training.
Yesterday, the National Sports Institute had also advised national sports associations against competing overseas after the World Health Organisation (WHO) raised the pandemic alert for Influenza A(H1N1) from level 5 to 6.
Source: Bernama
