Summer Olympics not yet off the cards - Yassin
- qualifying events affected, IOC to advise on way forward
As the Coronavirus continues to alter the 2020 sporting calendar, president of Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) K.A Juman Yassin, has, for the first time commented on the matter, advising that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has not pulled the plug on the highly anticipated 2020 Sumer Tokyo event.
“…the games have not been cancelled and I suppose that a decision will be taken late May in the event that the crisis continues,” the GOA boss revealed.
A number of international sporting bodies have recently taken bold stances to suspend action in their respective sport disciplines.
The National Basketball Association (NBA), English Premier, League (EPL), the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) and the International cricket community are some of the institutions which have reacted to the virus by suspending play for varying periods.
Yassin however, noted that the virus has affected the qualifying events which were to be attended by a number of Guyanese Olympic hopefuls.
“The virus has affected the qualifying events as you know athletes have to qualify to be able to compete in the Olympics. The IOC is looking at the situation (and) some qualifying tournaments have had to be cancelled or rescheduled. We have got the recent one as regards to affecting us in Guyana which is boxing, that has been cancelled but was supposed to start in another week’s time in Argentina.”
Meanwhile, the virus which is weighing heavily on the overall operations of the global system with countries closing their borders and restricting flights could also affect the attendance of the qualifying games.
Guyana’s Olympic hopeful Chelsea Edghill, who is currently in Europe plying her trade may be one of those players affected. The former Caribbean under – 21 table tennis champion recently expressed her strong desire to attend a qualifier in Argentina during April 15-18. But with Europe currently under lockdown due to the spread of the virus, it is unsure whether she will be able to attend.
“I’m always in constant preparations for tournaments. And my current goal right now is to attend the Olympic qualifications and if the World Championships were held during the time it was scheduled for (22-29 March 2020)… it would have been an ideal event to compete at before the Olympic trials,” the Caribbean under-21 champ explained.
Yassin nonetheless, advises that should the IOC forge ahead with the event, they will formulate a policy on how athletes will be able to qualify. With that in mind the body is asking athletes to continue their preparatory work.
Another challenge presents itself for local athletes with the National Sports Commission (NSC) recently announcing its decision to close all facilities under its purview for two weeks to facilitate sanitation operations.