Boxers stay in Italy as coronavirus threat looms

New Delhi, February 25

Indian boxers training in Italy for next month’s Olympics qualifiers were given the option of flying out early due to the coronavirus threat in that country but the team has decided to stay put as its training base in Assisi is “far” from the epicentre of the outbreak.

The Indian team, comprising 13 boxers and about the same number of support staff, is currently in Assisi, a hill town in the central Italian region of Umbria. The coronavirus outbreak in Italy has so far affected the northern Lombardy region, leaving seven dead and 229 infected.

“We are staying put in Assisi, we have a scheduled training tomorrow,” India’s High Performance Director Santiago Nieva said from Assisi. “We were a bit worried when we heard news of the outbreak but as we understand now, the outbreak is quite far, near Milan, while we are in the central region. We have spoken to the Italian authorities and realised that there is no need for concern for us right now. Please do not spread unnecessary panic, there is no early fly-out happening. We will depart as scheduled on Friday,” he asserted.

The Olympics qualifiers for boxing are scheduled to be held in Jordan from March 3. The event was postponed by a month after the original host — Wuhan in China — went into lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The Indian team, which includes decorated stars such as MC Mary Kom, Amit Panghal and Vikas Krishan, is scheduled to leave for Jordan from Rome on Friday. Eleven Italian towns — 10 in Lombardy and one in the north-eastern region of Veneto — have been placed under a lockdown, according to various media reports.

The team was given the choice of leaving as early as Wednesday after Nieva expressed concerns in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in his communication with the national federation.

“Yes, the federation had given us the option of taking an early flight to Jordan but we are okay with staying back and completing our camp as planned because we are far away from the threat,” Nieva said. — PTI

Virus forces fan ban in Italian football

Rome: Upcoming matches in Italian Serie A and the Europa League will be played behind closed doors to combat the spread of coronavirus, the Italian Sports Minister announced.”Following the demands of the sports world and knowing that the ban on sporting events open to the public remains in force in six regions of northern Italy,” said Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora after a meeting of the Council of Ministers.

Japan suspends football

Tokyo: Japan suspended its football league today, making it the latest sporting victim of the deadly coronavirus with just five months to go before the Tokyo Olympics. All J-League and cup games were postponed until mid-March as Japan joined China and South Korea in putting domestic football on hold in a bid to stem the outbreak. AFP

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.