Even though, in the face of the Covid-19 epidemic which is increasing in Europe, the vast majority of sports have taken a break, a small number of them are still playing overtime. So it was especially with boxing in England.
London hosts European qualifying events for the Tokyo Olympic Games. These, which bring together some 350 boxers, started off this weekend as if nothing had happened at the Copper Box Arena, in front of a fairly large audience.
Small notable inflection Monday: they continued behind closed doors, the working group of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of boxing having put forward, Sunday evening, "The changing situation with the coronavirus and concerns for the well-being of the public, athletes and volunteers".
But at the end of the day, Monday, the same IOC working group decided to say stop: the event, which was to end on March 24, will be suspended after the fighting this evening. Reason: “Tougher travel restrictions and more quarantine measures in place around the world”.
It's about "To allow participants from over 60 countries to return home", specifies – without laughing – the working group.
"We asked all the teams to wash their hands"
However, even before the competition started, the president of the European Boxing Confederation (EUBC), Franco Falcinelli, said to himself "Very concerned" let it stand judging " very high " the risk of infection for boxers.
"We asked all the teams to wash their hands regularly", explained the organizers in a statement to justify that they had put in place measures to limit the risks. "If a member of their team begins to have cold or flu symptoms, they have been advised to isolate themselves, stay indoors, avoid contact with other people and contact the medical officer of the committee. local organization ». Daily temperature readings were also planned.
The issue of qualifying tournaments for the Tokyo Olympics should be the focus of a telephone meeting Tuesday between the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, and the international federations, while the organization of many of these tournaments qualifiers is pending.
In camera for horse racing
England, which was the last European country to shut down its Premier League football championship, will still be able to count on … horse racing. These are not going to stop.
After a weekend that brought together over 250,000 people for four days at the Cheltenham Championship (the second largest in England), horse racing fans will have to make up their minds not to attend. These will take place behind closed doors until at least April 4.
In France, horse racing was suspended from Tuesday March 17 and until April 15.
