Karim’s daughter submitted Asian Games accreditation application

Nurhayati Ibrahim, secretary-general of Malaysia Athletics (MA), applied for Asian Games accreditation for her father, Karim Ibrahim, the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) has confirmed.

Karim, who announced a leave of absence from his duties at MA in May, was named as the federation’s sole representative despite his lifetime ban from athletics.

OCM told FMT it received the application through MA’s official email address on March 11. Only a national sports association’s president or secretary-general could submit such an application, it said.

In this case, Nurhayati made the request.

Each national sports association at the Games was entitled to one card for a national federation official delegate.

The card gave its holder access to the relevant competition venue, federation seating and public transport or shuttle buses for technical officials.

Malaysia competed in 30 of the 43 sports at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games.

OCM said MA was responsible for checking the suitability of its nominee. The council had earlier told FMT that this duty rested with the national sports association, not OCM.

The confirmation identifies who made the application, but not who decided to nominate Karim.

A senior MA official, who spoke to FMT on condition of anonymity, said the nomination had not been discussed by the federation’s executive council or its acting president, Wan Hisham Wan Salleh.

In announcing his leave of absence in May, Karim said he would step away from daily management and decision-making, leaving Wan Hisham and the executive council to run MA.

FMT has sought comments from Nurhayati and Karim but neither has responded. MA has not issued a statement on the nomination.

Karim did not perform any official duties at the Games. FMT has also been unable to establish who paid for his travel, accommodation and other expenses.

World Athletics banned Karim for life in 2018 and the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the sanction.

The case involved the handling of athletes’ allowances and advice to athletes to evade doping tests before the 2011 SEA Games.

Karim returned to the MA presidency in 2025 after the federation changed its constitution. The revised rules limited disqualification for officials sanctioned by World Athletics, Asian Athletics and MA to five years.

At its annual general meeting in June, MA adopted new rules aligned with World Athletics. The changes bar officials banned by the international body from holding office.

The sports commissioner is expected to issue a formal decision on Karim’s position within MA this week.

Subscribe to our newsletter and get news delivered to your mailbox.