MELBOURNE: Australia could perchance maybe no longer be taking on a proposal to send athletes to the Asian Games for the first time this 365 days as none of the invited sports actions federations expressed an interest in going to Hangzhou, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) stated on Tuesday (Apr 26).
The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) had invited a quota of spherical 300 athletes and 150 abet crew from Oceania nations, including Australia and Sleek Zealand, to compete at the Sep 10-25 Games within the eastern Chinese city.
“We set up no longer have confidence any athletes going,” an AOC spokesman rapid Reuters on Tuesday.
A Sleek Zealand Olympic Committee spokeswoman furthermore confirmed the nation would no longer participate within the Games.
The AOC’s outgoing president John Coates, an IOC Vice President and seemingly the most arena’s most influential sports actions directors, had lengthy pushed for Australia’s athletes to be incorporated within the Asian Games to uncover them to stiffer competition.
The quadrennial Asian Games are 2nd in dimension most interesting to the Summer season Olympics.
The Hangzhou Games had been below a cloud since an epidemic of COVID-19 in Shanghai, about 175km northwest of the city.
A media file final week quoted the OCA’s director-total as asserting there changed into a possibility the Games could perchance maybe maybe be postponed thanks to the COVID-19 notify.
Most world sporting events in China had been postponed or cancelled which potential of the initiating up of the pandemic, with the notable exception of the Beijing Frosty weather Olympics, which went ahead below strict controls in February.