Asian Games 2022 – Hangzhou Asian Games 2022: The 2022 Asian Games in China is facing the “possibility” of being postponed. A senior official has told AFP on Thursday that the games can be moved to next year. Follow Asian Games 2022 updates on InsideSport.IN
The Olympic-sized event is scheduled to be held in September in Hangzhou near Shanghai, which is grappling with a major coronavirus emergency.
“No official decision has been taken by the committee until now, but there is a possibility that it will be postponed,” said Kuwait’s Husain Al-Musallam, director-general of the Olympic Council of Asia, the Games’ governing body.
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Asian Games 2022: Asian Games faces ‘possibility’ of postponement, says official
Most international sports events have been on hold in China since the Covid-19 pandemic, although Beijing hosted the Winter Olympics in a strict bio-bubble in February.
Shanghai, China’s biggest city, has witnessed the country’s worst Covid outbreak in two years, with weeks-long restrictions keeping most of its 25 million inhabitants confined to their homes.
All 56 competition venues for the Games have already been completed, Chinese organisers said this month, promising to publish a virus-control plan that takes its cue from the Winter Olympics.
“We’re now just making a few final adjustments and improvements to the facilities,” Lu Chunjiang, an official in charge of operations at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre, told state broadcaster CCTV.
Hangzhou, less than 200 kilometres (124 miles) from Shanghai, is scheduled to hold the Games from September 10-25, becoming the third Chinese host after Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou in 2010.
The 2022 Asian Games if it happens will also coincide with one of the two rainy seasons in the region. During the times heavy rain and possible typhoons in August and September are predicted.
Asian Games 2022: Asian Games faces ‘possibility’ of postponement, says official
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