On Thursday, Top sports authority of China decided to cancel almost all upcoming public sporting events in the country for the rest of the year, citing coronavirus concerns.
The local Press reported that the General Administration of Sports of China has issued the order cancelling various upcoming scheduled sporting events, which also includes some major international events like the finals of world badminton in Guangzhou and Shanghai Grand Prix of Formula One. However, the issued order does not have any impact on the trials for the Winter Olympic Games scheduled in 2022 in Beijing. The decision will affect a pair of high-profile golf events as well as multiple tennis events. Apart from these sports, it will also affect auto racing, cycling events and sport climbing.
As per the reports of Associated Press “science and order” has been pointed out as reasons for the cancellations, in a statement released by the General Administration of Sports. China has seen its rate of COVID-19 infections remain steady since it flattened the curve earlier this year. China has reported around 85,000 total positive cases of the COVID-19. On the other hand countries like the U.S., Brazil and India are struggling to deal with the deadly virus.
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China and the U.S. have been at the loggerheads over the handling of the early days of the pandemic by China. Top U.S. officials including President Trump, repeatedly accused China of not doing sufficient to stop the disease from leaving its borders.
Earlier Tokyo 2020 Olympics were postponed till next year, despite this officials have warned that plan to organise the Olympics in Tokyo next year could still be in jeopardy due to the ongoing pandemic. CEO of Tokyo organizing committee, Toshiro Muto said: “I don’t think anyone would be able to say if it is going to be possible to get it under control by next July or not. We’re certainly are not in a position to give you a clear answer.”
Also read: Sport’s events shadowed by COVID-19 are likely to resume soon