Chelsea Asian Tour Controversy
Chelsea’s controversial summer tour to Malysia has once more come under the spotlight after Muslim groups urged the Malaysian government to reverse their decision to allow Chelsea’s Israeli personnel into the country.
With Israel and Malaysia having no diplomatic relations, the Malaysian Home Minister had given special dispensation to allow both manager Avram Grant and player Tal Ben Haim into the country on the grounds that it was for a sporting event and not to do with politics.However, a group of 21 Muslim and non-government groups now want the government to reverse its decision and has sent a petition to the minister which says: “If the Israeli footballers are allowed entry, the government would be seen as being insensitive to the feelings of the Palestinian victims of Israeli ethnic cleansing and atrocities, and the majority of the Malaysians who sympathise with them and support their struggle for justice and peace.”
Mohd Azmi Abdul Hamid, a spokesman for the group, said earlier this week that the signatories would consider staging protests during the tour, added:
“People are very, very angry with the decision, so we are going to have discussions on this.”
Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon has previously said should Grant or Ben Haim not be allowed in the country, the club would abandon the 29 July game in Kuala Lumpar.
Israeli athletes were last allowed in Malaysia at the 1997 ICC Trophy cricket tournament in Kuala Lumpar, which resulted in street protests.
