Bahraini authorities revoked the citizenship of an athlete who ran in an Israeli marathon on Thursday, the Bahraini athletic union said in a statement on Saturday.
Mushir Salem Jawher won the "Tiberias Marathon" in Israel, finishing the race in just over 2 hours and 13 minutes. According to Israeli press reports, Jawher was the first athlete from an Arab state to compete in an Israeli marathon. The Jerusalem Post quoted Jawher as saying on Thursday he was "very proud" to have run in Israel.
Jawher was born in Kenya in 1978 and moved to Bahrain in 2003, according to the International Association of Athletics Federations.
Bahrain's Athletic Union said in Saturday's statement that it had received the news that a Bahraini national competed in Israel with "shock and regret." "The union deeply regrets what the athlete has done," the statement said. A committee of sport and government authorities decided to strike Jawher's name off the sport union records and strip him of his Bahraini nationality, the statement said.
It said Jawher had entered Israel with his Kenyan passport and added that the runner's Bahraini citizenship was revoked because he had "violated the laws of Bahrain."
