The career of UAE triple jumper Mohamed Abbas Darwish hangs in limbo after the country’s athletics federation announced on Sunday that he had been handed a three-year suspension, which ends after the Rio 2016 Olympics.
The UAE Athletics Federation cited lack of discipline as the main reason behind the ban, but Darwish, who says he was not notified of the suspension, denies any wrongdoing on his part and says he’ll call the federation for clarification.
Darwish, who represented the UAE at the London 2012 Olympics, was considered one of Emirates’ top prospects when he won the triple jump bronze medal in the 2003 World Youth Athletics Championships.
Ten years later, the 27-year-old Emirati has now been banned by the federation for three years, a period which started on October 12, 2013 and will end on October 11, 2016.
“We have reached this decision after exhausting all methods of trying to discipline Mohamed and get him to commit to the national athletics team,” said Saad Al Muhairi, the Secretary General of the UAE Athletics Federation.
“He has deliberately made last-minute withdrawals from international competitions and camps on the eve of those events, more than once, which has cost the federation huge sums of money. He has also been uncooperative with the council that has been investigating his problems with the federation.
“This decision ensures that this kind of behaviour is not perpetuated to other athletes because commitment and loyalty to the country and its national team is ultimately the most important thing and betraying that is a red line that should not be crossed no matter how big of a star an athlete is.”
Darwish, however, says he has retired from international competition last June after poor showings in the GCC and Arab Championships and that he had formally notified the federation of his retirement.
“Everyone reaches a point where they can’t represent their country,” Darwish told Sport360. “My form had dipped significantly and placing fifth in the Arab Championships in Doha was the last straw.
“I can’t compete in Asia and other competitions when my form is so poor, it’s embarrassing.
“So I sent an official letter to the federation last June to tell them I had retired, so I don’t understand why they would ban me now.”
While Darwish says he had in fact retired, the Emirati says he still had hopes to compete in the Rio 2016 Olympics if he managed to get his form back up to par. But with this suspension, his Olympic hopes are officially over unless the federation reverse their decision.
“Of course every athlete dreams of the Olympics and since I am always training, I would have liked to return to competition if my form had gone up to how it was before,” said Darwish.
“I will call the federation to find out what’s going on.”
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