KUALA LUMPUR – The Malaysian Athletics Federation (MAF) are not keen on organising any major competitions for at least the next two months due to the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in the country.
MAF president Datuk S. M. Muthu said that they might, instead, decide at their annual general meeting on Oct 24 to hold smaller competitions - based on events like jumping, running and throwing - as a way to keep the athletes in good shape for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics qualifiers.
World Athletics has announced that the qualification period for athletes who have yet to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics will be from Dec 21, 2020, to June 29, 2021, now that the world’s biggest multi-sport Games have been postponed to July 23, 2021.
The MAF, who had previously planned to host a closed-door meet in October, said they do not want another incident like the one that national hammer thrower Jackie Wong experienced when he became the first Malaysian athlete to be infected with the COVID-19 virus in March, forcing him to be warded in the Sibu Hospital for over 70 days.
“We are not prepared to take risks by organising tournaments as these will involve many individuals, ranging from athletes to coaches and technical officials. Maybe, we will organise separate competitions based on events.
“If the situation permits, we plan to hold two domestic competitions in the first half of next year for our athletes to prepare for the Tokyo qualifiers and Vietnam SEA Games in November,” he told Bernama today. – Bernama, September 28, 2020
