2022 Asian Games and 2022 Asian Para Games to be postponed indefinitely

In a breaking news story, the 2022 Asian Games, which will serve as a qualifying competition for a number of Olympic sports, has been postponed indefinitely, according to reports from the People's Republic of China.

The event, to be held in Hangzhou in China's Zhejiang Province, was set to take place from 10 to 25 September 2022, with preliminary events taking place from 6 to 9 September in Basketball, Football, Modern Pentathlon and Rowing.

No information has been posted yet on either the website of the Olympic Council of Asia, who runs the event, nor Hangzhou 2022, but considering the media situation in China, it is difficult to imagine that this news was posted without official approval.

The situation is the same for the 2022 Asian Para Games, to be held in the same city, from 9 to 15 October 2022.

No reason has been given for the postponement, but with COVID-19 cases rising within China and the country's government pursuing a strict lockdown amidst a "zero-COVID" policy, it is speculated that it is in connection with this.

The Asian Games is a qualifying event for a number of sports for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, including Archery and Hockey. Officials in the IOC and amidst governing bodies will be scrambling to modify their schedules.

This also raises serious doubts about the 2021 Summer World University Games, to be held in Chengdu, also in China. The event, already postponed once from 16-27 August 2021 to 26 June-7 July 2022, could also be on the chopping block. With hosting rights for the next event in 2023 being stripped from Yekaterinburg of the Russian Federation due to that country's invasion of Ukraine, speculation has risen that Chengdu 2021 will be delayed again until 2023, and the event originally in Yekaterinburg will be cancelled altogether, before normal service is resumed in 2025. The 2021 Asian Youth Games in Shantou, delayed once already from September 2021 to December 2022, will also be under threat.

Patrick Green

Writer, Totallympics News