Pullela Gopichand wants Olympics postponed, cites lack of preparation time due to COVID-19

Indian badminton team's chief coach Pullela Gopichand expressed his opinion to postpone the Tokyo Olympics, citing lack of preparation time for the athletes amid COVID-19 scare. With countries across the globe going into a lockdown & the massive surge in the number of cases, a huge cloud looms over the Summer Olympics, although the organizers have maintained that it will go on as per schedule. However, Pullela Gopichand is of the opinion that it is essential to adhere to the directives issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) and that he felt it was difficult for the event to kick-off as planned in July. 

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'Olympics should be postponed'

Speaking to a news portal, Pullela Gopichand said that he was unsure if the athletes could take part in the Olympics without playing in exposure tournaments and that it was very tough for them to start training by June 20 while the Olympics was scheduled to kick-off in July. The Indian coach said that he did not believe that things were going to change in two weeks' time. However, Pullela Gopichand said that he will accompany his team if the International Olympic Committee (IOC) gives a go-ahead for the event. 

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Coronavirus Outbreak 

Countries around the world are sealing their borders and banning travel to stop the fast-spreading COVID-19 pandemic that has claimed 9,800 lives and infected more than 232,650 people in 158 countries and territories. In view of the rising number of the novel coronavirus cases globally, Sri Lanka on Tuesday suspended all international flights arriving in the country. China with 80,967 infected cases and 3,248 deaths tops the list followed by Italy (41,035 cases and 3,405 deaths), Iran (18,304 infected cases and 1,284 deaths), Spain (19,077 infected cases and 831 deaths), Germany (15,320 infected cases and 44 deaths) and France (10,995 infected cases and 372 deaths). 

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The coronavirus (CoV) is a novel strain in the large family of viruses that causes illnesses ranging from the common cold to acute respiratory syndromes. Common symptoms of the novel coronavirus (nCoV) strain include respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties, as per WHO. Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people, according to the WHO. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans.

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