The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) CEO Judit Farago, in an email to Mailsport (the daily’s sports section), said the Jewish state had qualified on merit and will compete in the tournament as one of the world’s top 96 teams.

Jerusalem Post, had on Sunday, reported their athletes have not received visas from the Malaysian government to compete in the Perfect World Team Table Tennis Championship at Stadium Malawati, Shah Alam, next month.

ITTF also informed the Table Tennis Association of Malaysia (TTAM) that if Israel was no allowed to compete, the championship would be cancelled and host nation, Malaysia, would also have to bear the costs incurred at the date of cancellation, including flight and hotel bookings.

“They (Malaysia) will never be allocated another world championship or any other world title event,” Farago told the daily.

The report also quoted Sports Commissioner Zaiton Othman as saying that her office supported the event but told TTAM that “conditions” must be met if the Israelis were allowed to participate.