The East Asian Olympic Committee (EAOC) has declined to change its decision to cancel the East Asian Youth Games, which were scheduled to be held next year in Taichung, Mayor Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday.
Lin said he received a letter of rejection from EAOC Chairman Liu Peng (劉鵬), in response to a petition by the Taichung City Government for the committee to reconsider its position on the issue.
In a Facebook post, Lin said that he was aware of the difficulties involved in asking the EAOC to reinstate Taichung’s right to host the Games in the face of pressure from China.
“However, we do not see the rejection of our petition to the EAOC as the end of road,” he said. “We will not give up.”
He said the Taichung City Government is considering an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, and might seek legal recourse, including through mediation or arbitration.
Taichung is also weighing filing a lawsuit against the EAOC and will continue to seek the support of the international community, Lin said.
In a letter dated July 25, Liu said that the EAOC had decided at an extraordinary meeting in Beijing the previous day to cancel next year’s Games.
“According to the decision, the Host City Contract for the 1st East Asian Youth Games in 2019 shall be nullified as of today,” wrote Liu, a Chinese national.
It was later disclosed that the decision was driven by China’s concerns over the referendum drive for the nation to compete as “Taiwan” instead of “Chinese Taipei” at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics and other competitions.
On July 30, Lin lodged a formal complaint with the EAOC and petitioned the committee to reconsider its decision.
In the response, Lin cited Liu as writing that the EAOC’s decision to cancel the Taichung Games was conducive to unity, stability and harmony in the sports arena of East Asia and beneficial to facilitating the healthy development of the Olympic Games.
However, contrary to Liu’s views, the decision would undermine stability and harmony in the sports arena and was not in keeping with the Olympic spirit, Lin said.
The abrupt revocation of Taichung’s right to host the Games would affect 2,300 young athletes in nine nations, and is unfair to Taichung and all the young athletes who had planned to take part, Lin said.
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