Muhammad Ziyad issue: PCM has obtained CCTV footage from organisers - Megat Shahriman

KUALA LUMPUR: The Paralympic Council of Malaysia (PCM) has obtained closed circuit television (CCTV) footage at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium from the organisers of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games with regard to the issue of Muhammad Ziyad Zolkefli's disqualification from the shot put event at the Games.

PCM president Datuk Seri Megat D Shahriman Zaharudin said the CCTV footage which was received last Saturday, was believed to be able to help resolve the the controversy involving the national paralympic athlete at the prestigious sporting event in Japan recently.

"We managed to get CCTV footage showing the situation in the call room from 5.45 pm to 6.05 pm, where Muhammad Ziyad was required to report at 5.55 pm," he told Bernama today.

Apart from the CCTV footage, Megat D Shahriman also said that his party received official feedback, from the organisers and the World Para Athletics (WPA) regarding the appeal by the Malaysian contingent on the issue.

However, Megat Shahriman, who will end his quarantine period at a hotel here tomorrow after returning from Japan on Sept 6, declined to disclose further details, as he did not want to jeopardise the ongoing investigation. .

"I will have a meeting on Tuesday (Sept 21) on the CCTV footage obtained before bringing the summary of the PCM meeting, as well as the official feedback from the organisers and WPA to another committee investigating Muhammad Ziyad's case, scheduled to meet the end of this month," he said.

Megat Shahriman said the investigation committee would make further announcements on the development of the issue as well as the next course of action to be taken by Malaysia soon, and urged the public remain patient and allow the relevant parties to resolve the issue amicably.

On Aug 31, Muhammad Ziyad was denied the gold medal in the men's F20 (intellectual impairment) shot put event despite his world record-breaking attempt of 17.94m.

The 31-year-old athlete was classified as 'Did Not Start' (DNS) following protests lodged by the Ukrainian team, who claimed he was late to report the call room prior to the event.

The decision saw Ukrainian athlete Maksym Koval announced as the gold medalist with a throw of 17.34m, which was also declared as the new world record, beating Muhammad Ziyad's 17.29m-throw at the 2017 World Paralympic Championships in London.

On Sept 3, the Ministry of Youth and Sports agreed to set up an internal investigation committee supervised by the National Sports Council (NSC) with the involvement of independent members to probe the issue.

-- BERNAMA