Great Britain set to PULL OUT of the World Athletics Indoor Championships amid coronavirus concerns

Great Britain set to PULL OUT of the World Athletics Indoor Championships in China after the Foreign Office issues warning about travelling amid safety concerns over coronavirus outbreak

  • Britain are expected to pull out of The World Indoor Championships in Nanjing
  • The Foreign office issued warning about travelling to China due to coronavirus
  • The whole event, due to run from March 13 to March 15, is now in jeopardy 
  • Sportsmail understands it will be decided if the event goes ahead in two weeks 

Great Britain are expected to pull out of the World Indoor Championships after the Foreign Office warned on Tuesday night against all but essential travel to China because of the coronavirus.

The whole event, which is scheduled to run in Nanjing from March 13 to March 15, is in jeopardy, with the virus having now infected in excess of 5,400 people across 16 countries, causing more than 130 deaths.

The epicentre of the crisis is in Wuhan, around 300 miles west of Nanjing, and Sportsmail understands that in light of the latest advice from the government it is now unlikely Britain will take part even if World Athletics do press ahead with the competition. 

Britain are set to pull out of the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China

World Athletics are expected to make a call on whether to proceed in consultation with the World Health Organisation in the next two weeks.

In addressing the doubts around the championships, a World Athletics spokesperson told Sportsmail: ‘World Athletics is monitoring this situation carefully and is in close contact with the World Health Organisation.

‘Should any of their advice affect plans for the World Indoor Championships Nanjing 2020, we will notify all our stakeholders promptly.’

The Asian Athletics Association confirmed on Sunday it would be cancelling its Indoor Championships, which were scheduled to be held next month in Hangzhou, 350 miles from Wuhan.

Prior to the spread of the virus, UKA were only ever likely to send a weakened team to China, with none of the leading names of Dina Asher-Smith, Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Laura Muir taking part.

The Foreign Office issued a warning about travelling to China because of the coronavirus

The Foreign Office issued a warning about travelling to China because of the coronavirus



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