The 2022 Asian Games in China is facing the possibility of being postponed, an official told AFP on Thursday, after a rumor that it would be moved to next year.
The Olympic-sized event is scheduled to be held in September in Hangzhou near Shanghai, which is grappling with a major coronavirus emergency.
No decision has been made but there is a possibility of postponement, said the official working with governing body the Olympic Council of Asia, who did not want to be named.
Most international sports events have been on hold in China since the Covid-19 pandemic, although Beijing hosted the Winter Olympics in a strict bio-bubble in February.
Shanghai, China’s biggest city, has witnessed the country’s worst Covid outbreak in two years, with weeks-long restrictions keeping most of its 25 million inhabitants confined to their homes.
All 56 competition venues for the Games have already been completed, Chinese organizers said this month, promising to publish a virus-control plan that takes its cue from the Winter Olympics.
“We’re now just making a few final adjustments and improvements to the facilities,” Lu Chunjiang, an official in charge of operations at Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre, told state broadcaster CCTV.
Hangzhou, less than 200 kilometers (124 miles) from Shanghai, is scheduled to hold the Games from September 10-25, becoming the third Chinese host after Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou in 2010.