Pakistani Olympic participant Arshad Nadeem safe in China amid coronavirus outbreak

Athletics Federation of Pakistan president says all five athletes are healthy, taking precautions

KARACHI: The Asian Indoor Athletics Championships will take place in Hangzhou, China in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, while Pakistan's top five track and field athletes including Olympic hope javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem are in the country.

The Athletics Federation of Pakistan has assured that the precautions are being taken to ensure safety of the national players, and new agency AFP has also confirmed that the Asian Indoor Athletics Championship will carry out as planned and it is not being postponed or cancelled as yet.

Pakistan had sent five athletes with Olympians Uzairur Rehman, Mehboob Ali, Samiullah and hurdler Mohammad Naeem and Nadeem to Nanjing.

AFP president General (r) Akram Sahi said that the aim was to provide training to the athletes and also the opportunity to compete in two events. The Asian Indoor Championships are scheduled to take place next month in Hangzhou and the World indoor Championships will also take place at the same venue later.

But the outbreak of the virus has been plaguing China as the government has stopped the tourists from travel along with the lockdown of states.

Nanjing is not in the Hubei province but it is around three hours and 30 minutes train ride away.

Arshad had earlier created the South Asian record at the 2019 South Asian Games in Nepal with an 86.29 metres mark in the javelin throw event and subsequently hit the entry standard for the entry in the Tokyo Olympics event.

He said that the athletes are training and he is training too but others can benefit more from China than him, as he has no coach while the indoor championships would not carry the javelin throw event.

"We are alright here, we are hearing the news of the coronavirus, but we are fine so far," Arshad told The Express Tribune. "In Nanjing it is not a problem till now. But we are hoping to stay healthy."

Sahi confirmed that Arshad will be returning to Pakistan and he will be going to Finland for training.

2019 SAG: Pakistan’s javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem wins gold, qualifies directly for 2020 Olympics

The 23-year-old has repeatedly said that his ideal training can take place in Germany or Finland for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

On the other hand Sahi added that the other four athletes can stay in China.

"We have received the confirmation from China that the indoor championships will take place next month and they have assured that the situation is under control in Hangzhou. So far we'll call back Arshad, but the other athletes can stay.

"They need to stay indoors and that is what they are doing. The academy where they are staying is also helping, their officials are taking the precautions and the training has been suspended for a few days too," explained Sahi.

He added that the federation has made all the efforts to make sure that the players are safe and in case of any emergency, the Chinese authorities will help them. Meanwhile the AFP have received the mail from the Chinese Athletics Association, where they have said that they "are keeping a close eye on the on the spreading of the coronavirus and we maintain communication with the Hangzhou Organizing Committee”.

It continued: “During the hosting of the Championships, our Association, together with the local organizing committee of Hangzhou, will make every effort to take the highest precautions, so as to ensure the safety of team hotels, competition venue and other places related to the Championships. We would also like to remind you that medical masks and personal hygiene are effective to prevent the virus infection."