An X-Games event scheduled for next month in Chongli in China’s northern Hebei province has been postponed due to the outbreak of a new coronavirus, organisers have said.
The event, the first winter X-Games to be held in China, was to take place from Feb. 21-23 in the same area as the alpine events for the 2022 Winter Olympics, which are officially being hosted by Beijing.
The outbreak has killed 132 people with almost 6,000 others affected by the flu-like virus that emerged late last year in Wuhan in the central Hubei province.
“Due to the ongoing coronavirus concerns, the X Games Chongli 2020 event will be postponed until a later date,” organisers said in a statement.
“The safety of our athletes, staff and spectators is our top priority, and we will continue to closely monitor the situation.”
A new date has not been set for the competition.
The virus has spread to more than a dozen countries while China’s government has locked down most of Hubei province.
Airlines from around the world are restricting their flights into China.
Sports officials have already moved a women’s Olympic soccer qualifying tournament from China to Australia, while a tennis regional Fed Cup tie in Dongguan has been switched to Kazakhstan.
An Olympic boxing qualifying tournament has also been moved from Wuhan to Jordan and an Olympic women’s basketball qualifying competition due to be held in Foshan has been transferred to Serbia.--Reuters