NEW DELHI: The Asia/Oceania Olympic boxing qualifying event, which was scheduled to be held in Wuhan from February 3 to 14, has been cancelled due to coronavirus outbreak.
The Boxing Task Force (BTF), constituted by the International Olympic Committee, and the Chinese Olympic Committee (COC) jointly announced the decision Thursday
“In the best interest of athletes and officials – after careful consultations – the BTF and COC jointly decided to cancel the Asian/Oceanian Tokyo 2020 boxing qualifying event, which was due to take place in the Chinese city from February 3-14, 2020,” reads a letter from Wuhan qualifying event organisers to various stakeholders, accessed by Sportstar.
“The event “has been rescheduled and is planned to take place between March 3-11. The BTF is exploring alternative locations outside China and will immediately inform the National Olympic Committees, National federations and officials will be informed as soon as a new host is appointed,” the letter further reads.
Following the cancellation, the African qualifying event in Dakar, Senegal, from February 20-29 will be the first boxing qualifier for the Tokyo Games, Sportstar further reports.
India is a front-runner to host the Asian qualifying event. The Boxing Federation of India (BFI) on Tuesday had written to BTF chairman Morinari Watanabe, expressing its readiness to organise the event in case it was moved out of China. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has endorsed the BFI move.
Related Report
BFI offers to host Olympic qualifiers after Wuhan dropped
