Egypt pull out of Qatar’s world event
Team withdrawn from the world short-course swimming championship to be held in Doha next month.
Egypt has withdrawn its team from the world short-course swimming championships to be held in Qatar.
Swimming’s governing body, FINA, says it “regrets the Egyptian Swimming Federation decision to not take part” in the December 3-7 event.
Egypt is the third Middle East country within days to boycott a Qatari-hosted sports world championship.
Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates pulled teams which qualified for the 24-nation men’s handball worlds starting January 15. Egypt remains in that tournament.
Bahrain, the UAE and Saudi Arabia recalled their ambassadors from Doha in March to protest apparent Qatari support for Islamist groups across the region, including the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
FINA says without Egypt, the short-course world championships will have a record 900 athletes from 170 countries competing.