Volleyball events on hold due to SARS

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The fifth Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Cup Men's Club Championship, which was scheduled to be held here next month, has been postponed indefinitely due to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), a report said.

The tournament was to have run from May 20 through May 25 at the Bung Karno Stadium's Indoor Tennis court, featuring top clubs from China, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Qatar, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia.

Before the official postponement by AVC President Wei Jizhong late Wednesday, Japan, Qatar and Thailand had already withdrawn from the tournament, citing either SARS or the repercussions of Iraq war as their reason. South Korea followed suit on Thursday.

"They (South Korea) said that they could not promise that the team would make a trip here. I presume that they were not going to participate. Later today (Thursday), the AVC notified us about the postponement of the tournament," said Rita Subowo, chairwoman of the Indonesian Volleyball Association (PBVSI).

The women's division of the championship, which was to have been held concurrently in Thailand, was also put on hold, as was reported in Wei's letter to the PBVSI, copies of which were made available to the media.

"Due to the worldwide SARS threat, and after serious consideration and consultation, we have decided to postpone the 5th AVC Cup Men's and Women's Club Volleyball Tournaments to a later date.

"The new competition dates will be announced if and when the situation improves," Wei said.

SARS, which first emerged in China and is reported to have claimed over 200 lives worldwide, has also resulted in the postponement of other Asian volleyball tournaments for an indefinite period of time.

The postponed tournaments include the Men's Under-19 and Women's Under-20 World Championship in Thailand, the Men's Under- 21 World Championship in Iran, and the Men's and Women's World Cup in Japan.

Indonesia has two additional international competitions to be held here: the Women's World Grand Prix series in Jakarta between July 18 and July 21, and the Beach Volleyball Olympics qualification in Bali from Aug. 20 to Aug. 24.

Rita said world volleyball governing body FIVB would convene in Lausanne, Switzerland, early this month. Included on their agenda is to decide on which tournaments are to be scrapped and which are to be rescheduled.