The 2022 Asian games have been postponed.
The event was scheduled to take place in the city of Hangzhou from 10th September to 25th September.
Although no official reason was announced or eluded to for the postponement, a rising number of Covid-19 cases in the country is an obvious reason.
“The Olympic Council of Asia has announced that the 19th Asian Games, originally scheduled to be held in Hangzhou, China from September 10 to 25, 2022, will be postponed,” said a statement on the official Games website.
The statement was first posted on the Chinese state media.
The statement continued to add that the new dates for the sporting contest “will be announced at a later date.”
The host city of Hangzhou lies near the country’s biggest city, Shanghai, which has endured a weeks-long lockdown as the country’s zero-tolerance approach to the virus.
At the time the plan was to hold the events under a virus control plan that “learns from the successful experience” of the Beijing Winter Olympics, which were held in February in a Covid-secure bubble.
Pakistan was one of the nations set to participate in the 15-day tournament.
The last Asian Games were held in 2018 with China winning the event for the 10th straight time with 290 total medals including 132 Golds, 92 Silvers, and 66 Bronze medals.
