By Teo Nie Ching, MP for Kulai

(Pic from legacy.voxsports.co)

The Kelantan government should review their decision on banning male spectators from watching netball tournaments.

If male spectators ban is introduced in netball because netball involves active movements, does that mean the ban will be extended to other sport such as basketball, badminton, track and field?

What is the purpose of Kelantan Government behind this policy? Is it to bar men from watching? If that is the case, is the Kelantan Government of the view that none of the male spectators can appreciate the beauty of sport?

Or perhaps the purpose of the Kelantan Government is to bar women from being watched?

Netball is a healthy sport. Provided all the female athletes are properly attired for the game, why should they be ashamed of participating in front of a mixed-gender crowd?

Aliya Mustafina made her first Olympic appearance in the 2012 London Olympics and left the London games as the most decorated Russian Gymnast.

Aslı Çakır Alptekin is a Track & Field athlete and she won the gold medal in the 1500m event for Turkey at the 2012 Olympic.

Fatmire “Lira” Bajramaj was the only Muslim player on the German Women’s National Soccer Team and she helped her team achieve victory in the World Cup tournament in 2007.

There are many more respectable and outstanding Muslim female athletes around the world. Why should we bar them from being seen by the world?

As a matter of fact, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei used to bar their female athletes from the Olympic Games because they would be participating in front of a mixed-gender crowd. However things have changed in 2012 where these countries decided to include female athletes in their delegation for the first time.

It is time for the Kelantan Government to widen its horizons.