The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) stripped Malaysia of the rights to host the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships, which was due to take place in Kuching from July 29 to August 4.

This came after Malaysia declared that Israeli athletes would not be allowed to participate in the competition.

Around 600 swimmers from 60 nations were anticipated to take part in Kuching with more than 160 world titles up for grabs.

In an official statement released on Sunday, IPC president Andrew Parsons said: "All World Championships must be open to all eligible athletes and nations to compete safely and free from discrimination.

"When a host country excludes athletes from a particular nation, for political reasons, then we have absolutely no alternative but to look for a new Championships host.

"The Paralympic Movement has, and always will be, motivated by a desire to drive inclusion, not exclusion.

"Regardless of the countries involved in this matter, the IPC would take the same decision again if it was to face a similar situation involving different countries."

He also revealed that the Paralympic Council of Malaysia had assured that all eligible athletes and countries would be allowed to participate in the competition with their safety assured when the contract was signed in September 2017.

"Since then, there has been a change of political leadership and the new Malaysian government has different ideas.

"Politics and sport are never a good mix and we are disappointed that Israeli athletes would not have been allowed to compete in Malaysia," he added.

The new host had not been decided yet.