Kamaruzaman Kadir, a powerlifting technical delegate at the Tokyo games, said he was worried that if left unchecked, the situation could affect the 31-year-old athlete’s emotions.

He urged the public not to raise the issue of the RM1 million reward, which he described as too sensitive to be discussed.

“They are sensitive, so respect his feelings and that of his family,” he told Bernama.

He said the Malaysian contingent should learn from the mistakes and hoped that they would not happen again in the future.

“There is no doubt that it is fun to comment here and there on this hot issue but it can have a negative impact on Ziyad.

“Stop bothering him. Have pity on him and wait until the investigation into the issue is completed,” he said.

On Aug 31, Ziyad was denied the gold medal in the men’s shot put F20 after he recorded a throw of 17.94m, which was also a new world record.

He was classified as “Did Not Start” (DNS) following a protest by the Ukrainian team which claimed that Ziyad was late in reporting to the waiting room before the event took place.

The controversy on the seventh day of the prestigious event saw Ukrainian athlete Maksym Koval being announced as the gold medal winner with a 17.34m throw.

He also broke the record held by Ziyad, 17.29m, which the latter had set at the 2017 London Paralympics Athletics Championship.

On Sept 3, the youth and sports ministry agreed to launch an internal investigation into the cancellation of Ziyad’s participation and victory at the games.

According to minister Ahmad Faizal Azumu, the investigation committee would be led by the National Sports Council, with the participation of independent members.