Asian Games: Hong Kong officials say Russian and Belarusian athletes must not be allowed in knock-out events
- Olympic Council of Asia voted to allow a maximum of 500 athletes from two European countries to compete in Hangzhou this year
- With Olympic qualification tied to some events, Hong Kong sports chiefs say they need clarification on how decision will impact Games
The decision to let 500 Russian and Belarusian athletes compete at this year’s Asian Games met with a cool response in Hong Kong, where officials questioned the move while also accepting they had no choice in the matter.
While athletes from the two European nations will have to compete in Hangzhou as neutrals and cannot win medals, they will be able to earn points towards qualifying for the Paris Olympics next year.
That could ultimately come at the expense of Hong Kong athletes, and local officials said Russian or Belarusian competitors should be not allowed in sports that involve knock-out elements, such as fencing or judo.
Hong Kong Olympic Committee president Timothy Fok Tsun-ting, who was reelected as a vice-president of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) at the governing body’s congress in Bangkok on Saturday, said they accepted the decision in principle but would need more information from organisers in Hangzhou.
Committee chief executive Abraham Cheng Kwok-hung, who was in Bangkok when the decision was made by the general assembly, agreed that the devil would be in the detail.
“In events like fencing, which is in a knockout format, if our athletes were drawn against a Russia player and lost, they would be out of the competition,” he said. “Compare that to another athlete who only draws against Asian players, we don’t think this is fair.