by Alfonz JuckAsian indoor champs cancelled
KUALA LUMPUR (MAS): The Asian Athletics Association (AAA) had called off the 9th Asian Indoor Athletics Championships scheduled from Feb 12-13 at Hanzhou, China due to the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak. AAA Council Member, Karim Ibrahim said the Asian athletics governing body made the decision through an emergency telephone conference on Sunday evening following the global outbreak of the virus which originated from Wuhan in the Chinese mainland. World Athletics is monitoring the situation in regard to World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China. The National Stadium in Beijing is among several public buildings to have been closed by Chinese authorities. Several road races in China are getting cancelled (Hong-Kong Feb 9, Wuxi marathon March 22), informs Carole Fuchs.
RunBlogRun wonders what this means for Nanjing 2020. Concerns that Chinese government has reacted to the coronavirus slowy. The World Athletics will have, with visa work alone, decide on fate of event within 2 weeks. Stay tuned.
From https://www.ceylonathletics.com/2020/01/26/19572 or Ceylon Athletics site:
Asian Indoor Athletics Championship 2020 has been the latest sporting event to be cancelled due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in Chinese city Wuhan.
The Asian Indoor Athletics championship 2020 was set to be held in two weeks’ time (February 12 to 13) in Hangzhou, China which is 700 km away from Wuhan, ground zero for the novel corona outbreak. Seven of Sri Lanka’s South Asian Game’s Gold medal winners were selected to participate in the championship.
The Asian Athletics Association had come to decision on Sunday evening over emergency telephone conference.
As we reported yesterday , ‘The General Administration of Sport’, China’s government agency responsible for sports in mainland China had instructed the country’s sports associations to consider canceling upcoming events as far as till April in response to the ongoing outbreak though individual organizers yet to made official statements when it comes to several other international sporting events.
The world governing body of Athletics, ‘World Athletics’, said they are “monitoring this situation carefully and is in close contact with the World Health Organisation .Should any of their advice affect plans for the World Indoor Championships Nanjing 2020” .
The World Indoor Athletics Championship to be held from March 13 to 15 in Nanjing China, which is 500km away from Wuhan.
So far, Olympic qualifying events of boxing and women’s football, which were due to held in February in the quarantined city of Wuhan were officially canceled. Other events such as the Chinese Super League football tournament, AFC Champion League qualifier on the January 28, and a Fifa World Cup 2022 qualifier between China and the Maldives on March 26 could also affect from the situation.
Chinese authorities have shut down 13 cities so far, which has quarantined nearly 35 million people to control the outbreak. Extreme health measures have been taken place specially with increased traveling time due to China’s Lunar new year, which falls on Sunday 25th The death toll has risen to 56 and infected at least 2000 as of sunday, as health authorities around the world took action to prevent a global pandemic.
The disease has now detected in Australia, Malaysia, Nepal, Vietnam, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, France, Nepal , United States, and Japan, where the 2020 Olympic Games will be held.
Sri Lanka athletes already suffered from a dengue epidemic last December during the South Asian Games, where seven athletes were hospitalized in Nepal, with two were treated at the intensive care unit while several others suffered from fever before and after the SAG Competitions.
