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The 2022 Asian Games, slated to run through Hangzhou, China between September 10 and 25, 2022 is on the brink of being postponed, a senior official told AFP on Thursday (April 21).
The entire sporting fraternity has been in and out of the COVID-19-related hiatuses since 2019. The virus scare continues could now impact the colossal event scheduled to take place later this year in China.
Most international sporting events have been shelved in China ever since the COVID-19 outbreak. Meanwhile, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics were held amidst a strict bio-bubble in February. The event also witnessed a few COVID-19 cases despite all the necessary precautions.
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Kuwait's Husain Al-Musallam, the director-general of the Olympic Council of Asia, the Games' governing body said:
"No official decision has been taken by the committee until now but there is a possibility that it will be postponed."
Hangzhou announces all 2022 Asian Games venues pass inspection
Earlier, the Chinese organizers had delivered the latest update confirming that all 55 competitive venues for the 19th Asian Games this September are ready for the athletes.
Lu Chunjiang, the official in charge of operations at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center, told state broadcaster CCTV:
"We're now just making a few final adjustments and improvements to the facilities."
The last of the venues to pass this inspection test was the Keqiao Yangshan Sport Climbing Centre in Shaoxing on March 31.
The 19th Asian Games will be held in Hangzhou along with five co-host cities throughout the Zhejiang province in eastern China.
This year's Asian Games theme of “Green, Smart, Economical, and Ethical’ has been inculcated in the construction of venues through the use of environment and intelligence technology.
One of the major principles of venue construction was to make full use of existing buildings through renovation, thereby cutting the expenses and guaranteeing the legacy of the venues.
