The Olympic Council of Asia has announced that the games would be postponed due to the spread of the Omicron variety in China, which is battling its greatest outbreak since the epidemic began, know when will the new start date be out
The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) announced that the September games would be postponed due to concerns over the spread of the Omicron variety. China is trying to contain the pandemic’s greatest outbreak since the beginning.
Asian Games 2022 New Start Date After Being Postponed In China
The 19th Asian Games, which were set to take place in Hangzhou, China from September 10 to 25, 2022, have been postponed, according to a statement on the official website.
It said that the revised dates for the athletic event “will be disclosed at a later date.”
Hangzhou, the host city, is fewer than 200 kilometres (120 miles) from Shanghai, the country’s largest city, which has been shut down for weeks as part of the ruling Communist Party’s zero-tolerance attitude to the virus.
Local organisers were “extremely well prepared to deliver the games on time despite global problems,” according to an OCA statement. All players, however, came to this choice after carefully assessing the pandemic scenario and its scope.
Last month, organisers announced that 56 competition venues for the Asian Games and Asian Para Games had been completed in Hangzhou, a city of 12 million people in eastern China.
They said at the time that the games would be staged under a virus control plan that “learns from the successful experience” of the Beijing Winter Olympics, which were held in a COVID-secure bubble in February.
After Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou in 2010, Hangzhou was set to host the continental competition for the third time.
Other provincial cities where activities were to be hosted were Ningbo, Wenzhou, Huzhou, Shaoxing, and Jinhua.
Since COVID was discovered in the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, almost all international sport has come to a halt in China.
The Beijing Olympics were an exception, however they were kept in a stringent “closed loop,” with everyone inside, including competitors, officials, volunteers, and media, having to take daily COVID tests and not being permitted to go outside.
China has steadfastly maintained a zero-COVID policy, implementing stringent lockdowns, quarantines, and mass testing programmes even as other countries begin to reopen as the pandemic threat fades.
The plan has been hailed by the administration as proof that it prioritises human life over material interests and can prevent the public health catastrophes that have plagued many Western countries.
Despite a mounting public uproar over the restrictions, top authorities pledged on Thursday to “unwaveringly adhere” to zero-COVID and “resolutely battle” criticism of the policy.
Anger is especially high in Shanghai, where 25 million people have been subjected to a patchwork of lockdowns since March, citing overzealous lockdowns and spartan quarantine conditions. There is no new date at the moment for the Asian Games with one set to come only once the pandemic’s fresh wave wanes.
ALSO READ: World Top 10 Highest Paid Athletes 2022 Forbes List