FINA moves Diving World Cup out of Tokyo, undecided on new hosts of Olympic qualifying event

Paris: The International Swimming Federation (FINA) is moving its Diving World Cup, which was to serve as an Olympic test event later this month, from Tokyo. FINA said it had not yet decided where the competition, which is also an Olympic qualifying event, would be held. “The decision of re-allocating the FINA Olympic Qualifiers planned in Japan is under review. An announcement will be made next week,” said a brief statement posted on the governing body’s website on Friday. FINA reportedly told member nations on Thursday that it had received “worrying” information about the organiser’s proposed Covid-19 measures. The BBC reported that FINA said these “will not properly ensure” athletes’ safety and added that the Japanese government “did not take all the necessary measures to ensure successful and fair” competition. The reports say that FINA was unhappy that some Japanese embassies were yet to issue visas to competitors, with the growing costs it would face for Covid-19 countermeasures, and with a recently introduced three-day quarantine which would force competitors to change tickets they had bought. The Diving World Cup was originally scheduled to take place in April 2020 but had been postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, as had the Olympics. It was due to take place in Tokyo on 18-23 April, with the rescheduled 2020 Games starting on 23 July.