COVID Surge Imperils Olympic Boxing Qualifiers in London

(ATR) The IOC Boxing Task Force "is monitoring" the situation in London which is to host the European Olympic Qualifying Tournament at the end of April.

IOC sources confirmed to Around the Rings that the group,in close collaboration with the organizers of the boxing event interrupted last March by the pandemic, is also evaluating the restrictions announced by the UK government in the wake of the recent surge in COVID-19 cases.

The IOC spokesperson also reported that the qualifying tournament for the Americas, also postponed in 2020, will be held in May but the exact dates and the host city have not yet been confirmed.

Buenos Aires had been chosen to organize the event in March but the pandemic forced it to be postponed. Boxing sources told ATR that the US city of Colorado Springs had shown interest in hosting the tournament but then declined.

The European Qualifier is scheduled to return to London on April 22-26.

The event had been suspended after the last match of the third day of competition on March 16 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. It is scheduled to reboot at the Copper Box Arena, a successful legacy of the London 2012 Olympics.

The European Qualifier will start from where it was suspended, only those athletes who were still in competition at the time of cancellation will be eligible when competition resumes.

Sixteen European boxers had already qualified for the Tokyo Olympics.

This week, just hours after the UK announced the start of immunization with its domestically produced vaccine, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced he was re-imposing a lockdown that had been used during the first wave last March.

This time the shutdown will last at least seven weeks, with London at the epicenter of the pandemic.

For seven days in a row, the country has exceeded the barrier of 50,000 daily positive cases.

In June 2021, the last qualification opportunity for fighters from the five continents is scheduled for Paris.

The Boxing Task Force was created by the IOC in 2019 to organize the entire qualifying process and the Tokyo Olympic tournament after the suspension of the International Boxing Association (AIBA).

Written and reported by Miguel Hernandez

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