Beijing: The Asian Games 2022, which was supposed to be held in Hangzhou, China from 10th September 2022 has been postponed.
The decision is said to have been taken in wake of rising covid-19 cases in the host country. The rescheduled dates will be announced later.
Numerous international sporting events in China have been cancelled during the pandemic due to China implementing strict COVID-19 restrictions, which have included the country’s borders largely being closed to foreigners.
The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games represented a rare exception to this, but was held within a closed-loop system which restricted participants from interacting with the general Chinese public.
China’s largest city, Shanghai, battles the nation’s worst outbreak of COVID-19 since the pandemic began, with residents facing weeks of restrictions.
Shanghai reported 12 deaths yesterday, its highest daily number to date.
Hangzhou is 110 miles away from Shanghai.
Remember Australia said Sunday it will not be sending athletes to this year’s Asian Games in Hangzhou. No athletes from Australian sports will take part, an Australian Olympic Committee spokesman said in a message.