Jerusalem – A disabled Israeli table tennis campion has been banned from competition for two years by the Israel Sports Association for the Disabled for competing on Yom Kippur.
HAARETZ (http://bit.ly/1aOEmV6) reports that Yael Elbag, who his a former Israeli national champion, began competing as a disabled athlete after a recent disease.
According to Elbag, she was unaware of the Culture and Sports Ministry directive banning competitive play during Yom Kippur, and flew to the Czech Republic to compete in a scheduled week-end tournament.
Elbag said that, upon arrival, she was informed of the ban, withdrew from the tournament, and did not compete.
Three weeks later she appeared before governing board’s disciplinary committee which, despite her testimony, found that she had willingly ignored the Culture and Sports Ministry’s directive.
She was banned from representing Israel for two years.