BY NICK GIONGCO
The Jordan capital city of Amman will assume the hosting rights of the Asia-Oceania Olympic Boxing Qualification from March 3-11, the International Olympic Committee Boxing Task Force said on Saturday.
The task force was compelled to look for a new venue after conditions in the Chinese city of Wuhan deteriorated owing to the coronavirus that has spread across Asia and even in the US mainland and France.
Morinari Watanabe, head of the IOC TF, wrote national federations across the region about the selection of Jordan as host of the slugfest that Wuhan was supposed to stage from Feb. 3-14.
The Philippines attempted to take over the hosting as early as two weeks ago before Thailand and a few other nations expressed their desire to hold it.
Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) Chairman Manny V. Pangilinan expressed “disappointment” over the selection of Amman, saying the Abap was more than ready to take over the hosting.
“We were prepared to fully support the hosting and would have mobilized all resources available toward that end,” said Pangilinan. “But there will be other opportunities and we remain steadfast in our commitment to support our boxing program with the same enthusiasm we have shown the past ten years.”
“We will continue to back our boxers’ drive for glory in the Olympics,” he added.
The Asia-Oceania tournament is one of five qualifiers that will take place in the next few months. London will host the Europe screening while Dakar in Senegal will handle the African boxfest and Buenos Aires will be in charge of the Americas.
A final qualifier, for those who will fail to make it during the continental qualifiers, will be hosted by Paris in May.
