Coronavirus pandemic: European Aquatics Championships tentatively postponed from May to August following spread of COVID-19
The 2020 European Aquatics Championships that was scheduled to take place from 11-24 May in Budapest, Hungary, has been postponed to August due to the coronavirus outbreak, Europe’s aquatics governing body (LEN) said on Friday.
The 2020 European Aquatics Championships that was scheduled to take place from 11-24 May in Budapest, Hungary, has been postponed to August due to the coronavirus outbreak, Europe’s aquatics governing body (LEN) said on Friday.
File image of a swimming pool (Representative photo). Reuters
The event has been tentatively postponed to 17-30 August — a week after the Tokyo 2020 Olympics are set to conclude.
However, LEN president Paolo Barelli said they might consider moving the championships to 2021 if the situation does not improve in the coming months.
“At this stage it’s difficult, if not impossible, to plan with a definite time frame,” Barelli said in a statement.
“So we agreed with the Hungarian organisers to reassess the situation in late May or early June to see if we can confirm these dates as official ones.”
Hungary’s minister for sports Dr Tunde Szabo said the event could not be held under the current circumstances where fans would not be allowed to pack stadiums and swimmers unable to prepare for events.
“We all wish to see packed stands in the Duna Arena,” Szabo said. “The participating athletes deserve to enjoy that.
“And of course they also deserve the chance to have quality preparations before the big events since nowadays it’s almost impossible to train properly.”
also read
On this day: Important events that happened on 11 March in the past
The World Health Organization (WHO) had declared on 11 March 2020 that the COVID-19 outbreak was a pandemic
COVID-19 pill Paxlovid moves closer to full FDA approval
The medication has been used by millions of Americans since the FDA granted it emergency use authorization in late 2021. The agency has the final say on giving Pfizer's drug full approval and is expected to decide by May.
Finding COVID-19's origins is a moral imperative, says WHO's Tedros
A US agency was reported by the Wall Street Journal to have assessed the pandemic had likely been caused by an unintended Chinese laboratory leak, raising pressure on the WHO to come up with answers. Beijing denies the assessment