According to the Associated Press, Palestine’s National Olympic Committee declared that the Israeli authorities have taken hold of the Palestinian 2016 Olympic team’s uniforms and equipment, forcing the Palestinian team to travel to Brazil without its gear.
The Secretary-General of the Palestinian NOC Munther Masalmeh stated that the gear has not cleared customs yet. On the other hand, Daily Herald reports that “Israel Tax Authority, which oversees customs, says it has heard nothing of the matter but would be happy to assist if approached by the Palestinians.”
Therefore, Palestine’s athletes are headed for the Rio 2016 Olympics without uniforms or equipment. The Olympians include two swimmers, two runners, a judoka and a dressage rider.
Mayada Sayyad has qualified to the 2016 Olympic marathon, while Christian Zimmerman booked his spot at the dressage riding event. Meanwhile, swimmers Mary Al-Atrash and Ahmed Gebrel were granted Universality Tickets to the 50-meter freestyle and 200-meter freestyle races at Rio 2016. Additionally, Simon Yaacoub was invited to compete in the extra-lightweight category at the judo tournament and Mohammed Abu Khoussa will run in the 100-meter sprints.
Israeli authorities have made a habit of intruding on Palestinian sports. The Palestinian NOC’s official website actually includes a report titled “Israeli Occupation Transgressions against Palestinian Sports,” which illustrates a series of unexplained detentions of the national team, athletes and sports personnel.
Palestine has previously asked the football governing body FIFA to ban Israel for hindering the movement of Palestinian athletes based on alleged security reasons. These efforts were unsuccessful.
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