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Jonathan White

The Asian Football Confederation is the latest sporting body to react in the face of China’s deadly coronavirus outbreak.
After first announcing that the Tokyo 2020 women’s football qualifiers would be moved from Wuhan, the city at the heart of the outbreak, to Nanjing, it has now been decided to relocate the qualifiers to Australia.
Sydney will now host the games between China, Taiwan, Vietnam and Australia from February 3 to 9.
The AFC Champions League play-off between Shanghai SIPG and Thai side Buriram United will take place in Shanghai as planned on Tuesday but behind closed doors.


That decision by the Chinese FA came after consultations with the AFC, the teams and the local FA.
“Considering that novel coronavirus cases have appeared in many places of our country, and in order to reduce cross infection from crowd gathering, Chinese Football Association, after consultation with the Asian Football Confederation, competing teams and Shanghai Football Association, decided that the match will be held as scheduled without spectators,” the CFA said in a statement on Saturday.

The CFA also announced the postponement of the Super Cup between Chinese Super League champions Guangzhou Evergrande and cup winners Shanghai Shenhua, which had been scheduled for February 5 in Suzhou. No new date has been announced.
Chinese clubs have also asked the AFC if they can play their first AFC Champions League games away from home, according to ESPN Philippines.
This, following the Chinese Basketball Association's decision to postpone its post-Lunar New Year return from February 1 to an unspecified date, has led to speculation as to whether the CSL season will start on February 22 as planned.

The Asian Athletics Association on Sunday announced that it had cancelled the indoor championships scheduled for Hangzhou on February 12 and 13.
Sunday also saw the postponement of the 14th Chinese National Winter Games, which were to be held across Inner Mongolia from February 16 to 26. Some events, such as women’s ice hockey and biathlon, were postponed on Saturday when they were meant to start.
The Fed Cup tennis qualifying event followed, with the Asia/Oceania group one event moving from Dongguan, Guangdong on February 4-8, to Nur-Sultan in Kazakhstan on the same dates.

A number of sporting events have already been postponed, including Olympic boxing qualifiers in Wuhan from February 3-14 and Top Rank’s boxing tournament debut in Hainan province on February 2. No new venue has been announced for those Olympic qualifiers.
The China Automobile and Motor Sports Federation announced last Thursday that the 2020 edition of the China Changbai Mountain Ice and Snow Rally, originally to be held from February 12 to 14 in Jilin province, was suspended.
That statement on their website also said that there were instructions from the General Administration of Sport to “suspend all sporting events until April”. While widely reported, that has not yet happened across the board.
Hong Kong Lunar New Year Cup cancelled over coronavirus fears
More events are expected to be affected as the virus spreads. China is scheduled to host the women’s Olympic basketball qualifiers in Foshan, Guangdong, later this month.
Doubts are also growing over the likelihood of Nanjing hosting the World Indoor Athletics championships in March.


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Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Coronavirus disrupts Tokyo 2020 qualifiers, Asian indoor athletics champs and tennis’ Fed Cup

Sam Kerr of Australia is expected to feature for the Matildas in Tokyo 2020 women’s football qualifiers moved to Sydney from China. Photo: Nike

Hong Kong superstar boxer Rex Tso Sing-yu (red) wins the match against Taiwan's Chiang Yi-hung (blue) as part of the Hong Kong Boxing Championships and UEF Championship at the Southorn Stadium in Wan Chai. 30NOV18 SCMP / Winson Wong

Athletics - IAAF World Indoor Championships 2018 - Arena Birmingham, Birmingham, Britain - March 3, 2018 Christian Coleman of the U.S. celebrates winning the Men's 60m Final Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley

China's Tang Jiali (R) vies for the ball with Taiwan's Chang Chi-lan (L) during the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Football Championship women's match between Taiwan and China in Busan on December 17, 2019. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)

Wuhan virus: women’s football tournament moved from Wuhan to Nanjing while Olympic boxing qualifier scrapped, report says

Travellers wear masks in the arrival hall of Hong Kong International Airport on Wednesday as China confirmed 440 cases of Wuhan pneumonia with nine deaths. Photo: EPA

epa08149952 An Indonesian health quarantine official scans the temperature of a passenger upon his arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Tangerang, outskirt of Jakarta, Indonesia, 22 January 2020. China confirmed 440 cases of Wuhan pneumonia with nine deaths, according to the National Health Commission on a press conference. The respiratory virus was first detected in Wuhan, China, and can be passed between humans. So far it has spread to the USA, Thailand, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. EPA-EFE/MAST IRHAM

epa08149795 People wear masks in Beijing, China, 22 January 2020. China confirmed 440 cases of Wuhan pneumonia with nine deaths, according to the National Health Commission on a press conference. The respiratory virus was first detected in Wuhan, China, and can be passed between humans. So far it has spread to the USA, Thailand, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. EPA-EFE/WU HONG

epa08149865 Chinese paramilitary police officers wearing masks patrol the Hongqiao Railway Station during peak spring festival travel in Shanghai, China, 22 January 2020. China confirmed 440 cases of Wuhan pneumonia with nine deaths. The respiratory virus was first detected in Wuhan, China, and can be passed between humans. So far it has spread to the USA, Thailand, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. EPA-EFE/LU HONGJIE CHINA OUT

Wuhan coronavirus: Top Rank postpones China boxing debut owing to concerns over outbreak

Bob Arum attends a press conference at Def Gym in the Sheung Wan, Hong Kong in 2016. Photo: AFP

Wuhan dilemma for IOC as Hong Kong’s Rex Tso gears up for Tokyo Olympic boxing qualifiers

Hong Kong’s Rex Tso (right) has a difficult task trying to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Photo: Winson Wong

Hong Kong superstar boxer Rex Tso Sing-yu meets the media after a game against Taiwan's Chiang Yi-hung as part of the Hong Kong Boxing Championships and UEF Championship at the Southorn Stadium in Wan Chai. 30NOV18 SCMP / Winson Wong

epa05490346 Michael John Conlan of Ireland (red) reacts after loosing against Vladimir Nikitin of Russia during the men's Bantam 56kg quarterfinal match of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Boxing events at the Riocentro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 16 August 2016. EPA/VALDRIN XHEMAJ

Sport

China


Women’s Olympic football moved to Sydney, while Kazakhstan to host Fed Cup tennis group stage
Speculation surrounds start of Chinese Super League and World Indoor Athletics champions set for Nanjing in March



Coronavirus concerns move Tokyo 2020 qualifiers and Fed Cup tennis away from China, while country postpones more events.
