Adnan Ouedraogo
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FINA has to defend itself because of Discrimination on two stops of the World Cup
After multiple media organisations reported acts of discrimination, during the Swimming World Cup stops in Qatar and Doha, the sport's international governing body decided to put out a press release. FINA makes clear, that there is no direct involvement in terms of the discrimination.
During the two middle-eastern stops, Israeli swimmers were discriminated by presenting them as nationless, removing them from television broadcasts and blanking their flags out in graphic overviews during broadcasts. This occurred until the FINA forced the middle-eastern hosts to announce female swimmer Amit Ivry as Israeli.
This is the most recent showcase of the on-going feud between Arabs and Jews in sports. Especially due to the case, that Qatar and Doha are beginning to host more sport events, the frequency of this kind of discrimination increases again.
All in all, the FINA states that they hold no share in the discrimination, took initiative whenever it occurred and were not aware of the violations in the beginning of the swimming events.
My Opinion
It is obvious, that the world governing body of swimming has to stand against any kind of racism, discrimination or anti-Semitism in front of the media. Personally, I highly doubt that the FINA found out about the issue so late, because there should be someone from the federation controlling the life broadcasts. Sadly, these kinds of incidents will not come to an end in the near future, if there is no resolve regarding the middle-eastern conflict, which satisfies both parties in a compromise in the long run. It should not be forgotten that Israel itself is just as much part of the problem, as the Arabic countries surrounding it.