Tokyo Olympics Will Go On

Courtesy of Australasian Leisure Management.

Australasian Leisure Management reported about the cancellation or movement of a number of international sporting competitions in marathon running, soccer, basketball, tennis, track and cycling due to the Coronavirus outbreak:

* 2020 Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon was cancelled, affecting 70,000 runners
* Women’s Olympic Football Tournament Tokyo 2020 Asian Qualifiers Final Round – Group B (Australia, China, Taiwan and Thailand) in Wuhan, China was moved to Sydney, Australia
* International Basketball Federation (FIBA) moved the women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament from Foshan (located in central Guangdong Province, China) to Belgrade, Serbia
* International Tennis Federation (ITF) moved the Fed Cup Asia/Oceania Group I event from Dongguan (in central Guangdong Province) to Kazakhstan
* International Cycling Union (UCI) cancelled the Tour of Hainan, a ProSeries stage race on the 2020 International Road Calendar
* 2020 Nanjing World Athletics Indoor Championships was postponed to 2021

With the awareness and fears of the Coronavirus spreading globally, there are also growing rumors that the Japanese government might cancel the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. But those rumors and purposeful misinformation are being fed on social media commentary from those without any decision-making authority or knowledgeable inside information.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced, “We will respond appropriately, while closely cooperating with the World Health Organization and other international organizations so that we can proceed with the preparations without letting it affect the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.”

Seiko Hashimoto, a member of the Japanese House of Councillors and a 7-time Olympian, confirmed that the Japanese government has no plans to cancel or postpone the Tokyo Olympics.

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