By Daily Sports on March 27, 2020

Six members of boxing teams who attended an Olympic qualifying event in London in March are said to have contracted coronavirus.

The Turkish Boxing Federation said two fighters and a coach tested positive since returning from the event.

Marko Marovic of the Croatian Boxing Federation also claims a fighter and two of its coaches have the disease.

He told BBC Sport: “Our epidemiologist says they were most probably infected during [the] Tokyo 2020 qualifier.”

Marovic, secretary general of the Croatian Boxing Federation, added: “Our first concern is the health of our boxing family. We are still praying that everything ends well and there will be no other positive tests.”

He said both Croatian coaches and the fighter were “stable” and in quarantine.

Earlier, organisers of the Road to Tokyo competition at the Copper Box – including an International Olympic Committee (IOC) Boxing Task Force – were branded “irresponsible” by the Turkish Boxing Federation after three of its team tested positive.

The event was called off after three days because of the pandemic.

Turkish Boxing Federation president Eyup Gozgec told BBC Sport that organisers failed to take the outbreak seriously enough and “didn’t care”.

He added: “I just want to know, when the whole world was on high alert, why they hosted this event?

“We didn’t see any hygienic standards there. There were no preventative measures.”

The IOC said its Task Force was “not aware of any link between the competition and the infection”.

It added that at the time of the competition there were no governmental restrictions in place, but expressed its sympathy for the affected athletes.

The local organising committee also said they had applied extra precautions and that no teams had reported symptoms at the event.

In a scathing letter sent to the board members of the European Boxing Confederation (EUBC), and seen by the BBC, Gozgec wrote: “Two of our athletes (and a coach) have tested positive for (Covid-19) after returning to Turkey from London. All of them are in treatment now and thankfully are in good condition.

“This is the disastrous result of the irresponsibility of the IOC Boxing Task Force.”

Gozgec says he now intends to write to all European boxing associations asking if any of their teams at the event have since tested positive. (BBC)

•PHOTO: Boxing Olympic qualifier

Source Daily Sports

Posted March 27, 2020

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