Volleyball events on hold due to SARS

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late Wednesday, Japan, Qatar and Thailand had already withdrawn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.