Judo Federation, UAE Wrestling Suspend All Events Due To Coronavirus

Internationally, the coronavirus has halted a majority of big events. Two of the biggest organizations in combat sports are taking drastic steps to work past the spreading virus.

According to TheNational.ae, the International Judo Federation and UAE Wrestling has suspended all competition and training until measures of safety can be implemented.

“We are following the directives of the health authorities to suspend all activities until further notice,” Nasser Al Tamimi, general secretary of UAEWJF stated. “Safety is paramount for us and we’ll strictly follow the recommendations of the health authority to ensure the highest level of safety measures are maintained until we can resume normal activities.”

Additionally the International Judo Federation just announced all Olympic qualification events have been cancelled until the end of April. That includes major competitions that could affect the Summer Games in Tokyo.

“We are in the unfortunate position where we must take a drastic decision in order to protect the judo family and also to comply with the general safety measures all around the world,” the IJF stated in a release.

“The IJF Executive Committee has taken the emergency decision to cancel with immediate effect all Olympic qualification Events on the IJF Calendar until April 30, 2020. This includes the Ekaterinburg Grand Slam in Russia and the Grand Prix in Tbilisi (GEO) and Antalya (TUR).”

Just recently, the Judo Grand Prix in Morocco was cancelled due the coronavirus spreading in the area. Several sumo, karate, MMA, boxing and wrestling events have already been cancelled or have had to be moved due to the virus.