KUALA LUMPUR, May 3 — The Malaysian Chess Federation said it has stopped investigating the case of a girl who allegedly withdrew from a recent tournament due to issues with her dress, owing to the director’s police report.
It said, however, that the investigation so far has determined that the 12-year-old was neither disqualified from the National Scholastic Chess Championships 2017 nor threatened with disqualification.
“The investigation committee has now decided to cease investigations after ascertaining a police report has been filed by the tournament director,” it said in a statement.
“We trust the police will expedite their investigation into this matter and hope the matter can be resolved amicably and expeditiously for all parties concerned. MCF will extend its fullest co-operation.”
The director, Sophian A Yusuf, yesterday said he lodged reports with both the police and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission over the issue.
The MCF today also said it was not privy to remarks made by Sophian or the chief arbiter of the championship, KK Chan.
In initial reports based on a Facebook post by the girl’s coach, she dropped out after she was purportedly told her knee-length black-and-red striped dress was deemed “seductive”, a term that both Sophian and Chan denied using.
Chan yesterday also explained that it was not the girl’s dress that drew complaints, but that it shifted when she was seated and could be “inappropriate” from some perspectives.
The arbiters had advised the girl and her parent about the matter, but were ignored.
The mother previously alleged that the chief arbiter had interrupted the game to object to the girl’s “inappropriate” dress, despite it not being “revealing”.
She claimed that her daughter was forced to withdraw as they were only informed of the problem late at night, and could not obtain clothing that would meet the competition’s dress code in time for the next round early the next morning.
