Coronavirus in China: upheavals in the sports calendar - France 24

Paris (AFP)

The chaos caused in the sports calendar by the coronavirus epidemic in China extends to neighboring countries with the cancellation of ladies' golf tournaments in Singapore and Thailand.

List of canceled, postponed or threatened sporting events:

Soccer

- Chinese Championship: the season of Chinese Super League, which was to start on February 22, has been postponed as well as "competitions of all types and at all levels" to protect the players and the public, said the federation.

- Asian Champions League: the meetings involving Chinese teams involved in the main continental competition were postponed to the beginning of April, with the exception of the Beijing Guoan, whose workforce settled in South Korea.

- World Cup qualifiers: the Asian Confederation (AFC) has not yet made a decision for the qualifying matches of the team of China to the World Cup scheduled for March 26 and 31 against the Maldives and Guam. The meetings involving Hong Kong and Guam are also suspended.

- Qualifications for the Olympic Games: an Olympic qualification tournament between women's teams, initially planned for Wuhan, the epicenter of the epidemic, has been moved to Sydney (Australia). The Chinese team has been quarantined upon arrival in Australia but may play well next week.

Golf

- LPGA: the Pataya tournaments, which were scheduled to start on February 20, and the Singapore tournament scheduled a week later, have been canceled by the North American women's golf circuit. With the cancellation at the end of January of the stage on the island of Hainan, the ladies circuit finds itself deprived of its three most lucrative Asian events at the start of the season.

- PGA: the qualifications for the Chinese Open, European Tour event, scheduled for February 25 to 28 in Haikou, have been moved to Lagoi, Indonesia. The organizers have not communicated a decision on the main events, which are scheduled to start on March 26 in Sanya.

Athletics

- Indoor worlds: scheduled for Nanjing in China from March 13 to 15, they have been postponed to 2021. It was to be the first major event of the year in athletics, four months before the Tokyo Olympics (July 24 - 9 August).

- Asian Indoor Championships: The Asian Athletics Federation has canceled the continental indoor championships scheduled for February 12 and 13 in Hangzhou, China.

Alpine skiing

- Men's World Cup: Xiaohaituo Mountain, 50 km north of Beijing, the site of the 2022 Winter Olympics, was to host a downhill and alpine skiing super-G for the World Cup from 12 to 16 February. The stage has been moved to Saalbach-Hinterglemm (Austria).

Cycling

- Tour de Hainan: the International Cycling Union (UCI) has canceled this UCI ProSeries event, the second level of international cycling, scheduled from February 23 to March 1 on the Chinese island of Hainan.

Boxing

- Qualifications for the Olympic Games: scheduled from February 3 to 14 in Wuhan, the tournament was rescheduled in Amman (Jordan) from March 3 to 11.

eSports

- League of Legends: Riot Games, the publisher of League of Legends, has postponed the resumption of the Chinese LPL 2020 (League of Legends Pro League), scheduled for February 5.

- Overwatch: the Overwatch League meetings which were to be held in China in February and March will not take place there. The organizers have not said where and when the scheduled matches will be rescheduled.

Swimming

- World Diving Series: scheduled for March 7 to 9 in Beijing, the Chinese stage has been canceled by the international swimming federation.

- Synchronized swimming: the world series scheduled for Suzhou from April 23 to 25 has been canceled.

car

- Formula E: the Sanya ePrix, scheduled for March 21 on the southern island of Hainan, has been canceled.

- Formula 1: The Chinese Grand Prix, scheduled for Shanghai from April 17 to 19 and which attracts tens of thousands of fans, is closely monitored by the International Automobile Federation but is for the time being maintained.

Badminton

- Masters of China: the tournament scheduled from February 25 to March 1 in Lingshui, on the island of Hainan, has been postponed sine die after the withdrawal of several players.

- Asian Championships: scheduled for Wuhan from April 21 to 26, the competition, which provides places for the Olympic Games, is suspended but the International Federation has not yet made a decision.

Fight

- Qualifications for the Olympic Games: the Asian wrestling qualification tournament scheduled from March 27 to 29 will not take place in Xi'an (center) as planned. The International Wrestling Federation has not yet determined the new host city.

© 2020 AFP