Women’s soccer qualifiers early next month for the Tokyo Olympic Games are to be moved from the Chinese city at the center of a virus outbreak to another location in the country, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said yesterday.
Wuhan was supposed to host Taiwan, China, Thailand and Australia for the Group B qualifiers on Feb. 3 to 9, but they are now to be held on the same dates in Nanjing, the confederation said in a statement.
The change was proposed by the Chinese Football Association, it said.
Earlier yesterday, the Chinese Taipei Football Association had warned that it would withdraw from the qualifiers if they were held in Wuhan, saying in a statement that “the safety of players is our top priority.”
The association said that it on Jan. 4 wrote to the AFC to express its desire for the venue to be changed.
“We again wrote to the AFC on Monday and contacted AFC general secretary Dato Windsor John about our wish to change the game venue. He replied that the confederation is re-evaluating the situation,” the association said.
Xinhua news agency on Monday reported that the Chinese Football Association had no plans to move the qualifying matches out of Wuhan.
Separately yesterday, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported that qualifying boxing matches for Asia and Oceania for the Tokyo Games that were scheduled to take place in Wuhan next month have been canceled due to fears over the outbreak.
Boxing preparations for the Games have already been upended after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in June last year took over the competition and suspended the International Boxing Association (AIBA) due to issues with its finances and governance.
The IOC has instead set up a task force, led by member and International Gymnastics Federation president Morinari Watanabe, to organize the boxing events.
The news agency cited organizers as the source of the news. Reporters were unable to immediately contact Watanabe. The IOC did not immediately return requests for comment.
The Tokyo Games organizing committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter.
The organizing committee has previously said in response to questions on health concerns for the Olympics that “countermeasures against infectious diseases constitute an important part of our plans to host a safe and secure Games.”
It added that it would “continue to collaborate with all relevant organizations which carefully monitor any incidence of infectious diseases and we will review any countermeasures that may be necessary with all relevant organizations.”
AIBA has been in turmoil over its finances and governance for years, with the federation US$16 million in debt.
It has also been split internally by a long-running, bitter battle over its presidency, which resulted in the resignation of Taiwanese Wu Ching-kuo in November 2017.
Additional reporting by Shelley Shan
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