The Greatest Games in History: The Armored Bear's perspective

The greatest sports event in history, competed by athletes around the world..
and Brunei's missing out of it?

Despite the beautiful display of the Beijing Olympics, the news came as a shocker that waved throughout the country. Discussion on Brunei Darussalam's exclusion from the Beijing Olympics erupted in all GP classes in PTEB. Mr Kendrew pulled out the news from an article in Brunei Times.

It's as if the country is open to a terrorist attack, panic and chaos everywhere. I close my eyes pretending this to be a bad dream. Reality kicks in and there's nothing we can do about it.

From the Borneo Bulletin headlines: Blame Games!
Yesterday, the Brunei Darussalam National Olympic Council (BDNOC) broke its silence with a press statement explaining that they were not able to send athletes to compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympiad due to the fact that the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sports did not endorse its approval for the athletes to participate.

In this case, the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sports reasoned that the athletes in the women's swimming competition has not attained the requirement achievement within the regional and international level while the male athlete was not fit enough to participate due to an ankle injury sustained during the National Sports Festival.

From Ranoadidas.com 10th August.
It was also mentioned in The Brunei Times that Brunei could be sanctioned because of the withdrawal. That would mean a possibility of a fine and in the worst case scenario, Brunei won’t be able to participate in SEA Games or other international tournaments in the future *touch wood*