Tokyo 2020: coronavirus sees rugby sevens test event cancelled
- Japan Rugby Football Union hopes the April tournament can take place at a later date
- Rugby sevens looks to be a fan favourite at the Tokyo Olympics this summer, if the Games do go ahead
In an official statement released on Wednesday, the Tokyo 2020 International Communications team announced that the Japan Rugby Football Union, the country’s governing body for the sport, had let them know they were cancelling the Asia Sevens Invitational 2020 tournament. The event, scheduled to take place on April 25-26 in Tokyo, was cancelled “due to concerns relation to novel coronavirus”, said the release.
So far there have been more than 93,000 confirmed cases of the virus, and more than 3,200 deaths, mostly in China.
The invitational tournament was going to be a test event in preparation for the rugby sevens at the Games, which will feature 12 men’s and women’s teams. Hong Kong’s men’s and women’s team still have a chance to qualify for the Olympics in a last-ditch tournament in June in France.
The sevens at the Olympics will be played over six days, with the men playing from July 27-29 and the women playing July 30-August 1.
