Bad News, The 2022 Asian Games In China Are Rumored To Be Postponed Due To COVID-19 Factors

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The 2022 Asian Games in China are facing the possibility of being postponed after rumors circulated that the Asian countries' sporting events would be postponed to next year.

Citing Antara, the Olympic-class event is scheduled to be held in September this year in Hangzhou, near Shanghai, which is grappling with the COVID-19 emergency.

No decision has yet been made but it may be postponed, an official with the sporting body of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) told AFP on Saturday.

Most international sporting tournaments have been postponed in China since the COVID-19 pandemic, even though Beijing hosted the Winter Olympics in February.

Shanghai, China's largest city, is experiencing the country's worst COVID-19 outbreak in two years, with weeks of restrictions keeping most of its 25 million residents confined to their homes.

Organizers said all 56 competition arenas for the Asian Games had been completed this month and pledged to publish a virus control plan that would emulate the Winter Olympics.

"We are now only making some final adjustments and upgrading the facilities," Lu Chunjiang, the official in charge of operating the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center arena, told the Chinese television network CCTV.

Hangzhou, which is less than 200 kilometers from Shanghai, is scheduled to host the Asian Games which will take place on September 10-25. It is China's third host after Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou in 2010.