Athletics Canada will not send a team to 2023 FISU University Games in China
High event costs and COVID-19 restrictions pushed Athletics Canada to the decision
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Unsplash/Nicolas Hoizey
Athletics Canada (AC) announced on Thursday that they will not send a team to the 2023 FISU Summer World University Games, which are set to run in Chengdu, China, in July and August. AC officials made the call to skip the event due to the high costs of sending a team and China’s ongoing struggles with COVID-19.
Athletics Canada's National Team Committee has made the decision to not field a team for the 2023 FISU Summer World University Games to be held in Chengdu, China.
Details here:https://t.co/XPcmseaaZm pic.twitter.com/g2AE3jpJup
— Athletics Canada (@AthleticsCanada) February 9, 2023
Although the FISU Games are an event for collegiate athletes, U Sports (Canada’s university athletic federation) does not foot the bill to send teams to the competition. Instead, it is up to the individual national sport organizations (NSOs), such as AC. U Sports estimated that the Games would cost anywhere from $8,000 to $12,000 per athlete and staff member. According to AC, this is the NSO’s most expensive team cost “by a significant margin.”
Without the “necessary discretionary funding” to send a team, AC has had to rule out the 2023 event altogether, and officials noted that they don’t “feel it appropriate to pass these significant costs along to athletes.”
On top of the financial issues related to the event, AC also pointed to the “adverse public health situation in China.” COVID-19 is still not under control in the country, and it ultimately forced organizers of the 2023 World Indoor Championships (which were scheduled to be held in Nanjing, China, later this year) to postpone the event until 2025. The Canadian government still has a travel advisory listed for China, and it warns Canadians of the ongoing issues facing the country and the increasing number of cases within its borders.
Further, the Chinese government has implemented heavy restrictions to keep the pandemic at bay. These rules include isolation requirements and “restrictions on freedom of movement.” All of these factors added up to AC’s decision to withdraw from the FISU Games altogether. There has yet to be a decision made by U Sports and other NSOs regarding the event.
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