Asian Road Cycling Championships cancelled for want of competition

KARACHI: The 2021 Asian Road Cycling Championship and the 2021 Asian Road Para-Cycling Championship have been cancelled after many nations objected to strict two-week quarantine rule in Thailand and did not confirm their participation.

The events were scheduled for August 18-23 in the Rayong province of Thailand.

The organisers said that only seven nations had confirmed their participation. “Many nations protested that the 14-day quarantine prevented them from attending the competition,” said a Thai Cycling Association letter it addressed to national federations.

The decision to cancel the event was taken during a virtual meeting of the Asian Cycling Confederation (ACC) Management Committee on Sunday.

A minimum of 15 nations were to compete in the event, the organisers said in the letter. Therefore, the ACC had to cancel the events. "We would like to thank all the nations for their support and apologise for not being able to organise the tournament. But we still have two international competitions in September which include Track Asia Cup 2021 (September 2-6) and Tour of Thailand 2021 (both men and women) September 12-25. We invite you to join them on the said dates," the TCA president General Decha Hemkasri said in the letter.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Cycling Federation (PCF) said that they were ready to feature in the Asian Championship and had also selected their squad.