Hinahangad ng Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) na saluhin ang kinansela ng International Olympic Committee (IOC) at host country na Olympic Qualifying Tournament sa boxing dahil sa patuloy na paglala ng Novel Coronavirus sa Wuhan, China.
Inilabas ng IOC ang isang sulat mula Lausanne na may petsang Enero 22, 2020 sa pag-alerto sa lahat lalo’t nasa may 25 katao na ang namatay at umabot na sa 800 katao ang tinamaan nang nakakatakot na karamdaman.
“The IOC Boxing Task Force (BTF) noted today’s decision of the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) to cancel the Asian/Oceanian Tokyo 2020 Boxing Qualifying Event which was due to take place in Wuhan (CHN) from 3-14 February 2020, amid growing concerns in relation to the corona-virus outbreak reported in the city,” pabatid ng kalatas.
Kinumpirma naman ni ABAP Secretary General Edgar Genaro ‘Ed’ Picson ang natanggap na mensahe buhat kay Philippine representative to IOC Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski at nagpasabi na handang saluhin ang pagho-host ng torneo sa bansa at iurong lang ang petsa.
“This has been confirmed to me by Ms. Mikee Jaworski by text. She said she personally verified this with Task Force Head Morinari Watanabe. FYI thanks,” sabi ni Picson.
Ang qualification tournament ay para sa mga boksingerong nais humabol para sa 32nd Summer Olympic Games 2020 sa Tokyo, Japan sa darating na Hulyo 24-Agosto 9. (Lito Oredo)