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The Asian Athletics Association (AAA) announced that the Asian Cross-Country Championships that were to take place in Hong Kong on March 29 has been postponed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19).
Organisers are planning to put on the event in November or December.
“Taking into consideration the welfare and safety of our athletic family at heart, this decision was the most appropriate at the time,” read an official statement on the matter.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics are now under threat due to the virus and organisers will decide in May if the virus is not under control by then.
However, Japanese officials pushed back Wednesday as International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound said the Olympics could potentially be cancelled.
Yoshihide Suga, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary said during a Wednesday press conference that the Olympics will happen in July.
“We would like to prepare steadily for the event, including offering information abroad regarding our measures against the spread of the coronavirus,” Suga said.
Elsewhere, the virus outbreak has caused the postponement of the World Table Tennis Championships that was scheduled to happen in Busan, South Korea.
The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) during an emergency meeting between the governing body’s senior management, the Korea Table Tennis Association (KTTA) and representatives of the city of Busan on Friday (February 21) decided to move the event to another time, potentially end of June, instead of end of March.