Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games put on hold

The 19th Asian Games .Hangzhou 2022, slated to be held in September in the capital of Zhejiang province, have been postponed to "an unspecific date", it was announced on Friday.

The decision was revealed in a statement made by the Olympic Council of Asia, which held its executive board meeting in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Friday.

Following detailed discussions with the Chinese Olympic Committee and the Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee, the Olympic Council of Asia Executive Board decided to postpone the 19th Asian Games, originally scheduled to be held from Sept 10 to 25.

The statement said that the decision was made "after carefully considering the pandemic situation and the size of the Games".

The name and the emblem of the 19th Asian Games will remain unchanged, and the Olympic Council of Asia said it believes that the Games will achieve a complete success through the joint efforts of all parties.

Organizers said last month that Hangzhou had finished constructing 56 competition venues for the Asian Games and Asian Para Games.

Hangzhou was poised to become the third city in China to host the continental competition after Beijing in 1990 and Guangzhou in 2010. Some events were due to be held in other provincial cities including Ningbo, Wenzhou, Huzhou, Shaoxing and Jinhua.

It was also decided to cancel the 3rd Asian Youth Games, which had been due to be held in Shantou, Guangdong province, from Dec 20 to 28, and had already been postponed once.

As a result, the next Asian Youth Games will be held in 2025 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

The Hangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee said in a statement on Friday that under the support and guidance of the Olympic Council of Asia and the Chinese Olympic Committee, it will continue to carry on with all of the preparatory work for the Hangzhou Asian Games, adding that the Games will eventually achieve complete success in the future.

In another development, the Chengdu 2021 World University Games have been postponed until 2023, the International University Sports Federation (FISU) announced on Friday.

The FISU Games had initially been scheduled for the summer of 2021 but were rescheduled to June this year following the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

"The decision to reschedule Chengdu 2021 is not one that was made easily, but it is the right decision for university athletes," said Acting FISU President Leonz Eder.