FIBA Asia announced on Friday that the third and final window of Japan¡¯s Asia Cup qualifying group has been moved from Tokyo to Doha due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Japan Basketball Association said the decision was made in part due to the ongoing state of emergency in 11 Japanese prefectures including Tokyo.
Organizers initially announced in December that a site in the Tokyo area would host all of Group B¡¯s remaining games from Feb. 18-22. Now the remaining contests involving Japan, China, Taiwan and Malaysia will be played in Doha along Group E¡¯s games.
Details regarding the event in the Qatari capital are expected to be revealed at a later date, but the tournament¡¯s official website states that the windows will be ¡°organized as protected environment tournaments in order to ensure health and safety of all participants,¡± indicating the creation of a bio-secure ¡°bubble¡± similar to the one used in Qatar for soccer¡¯s Asian Champions League last year.
Japan has only completed one qualifier, a 96-57 win over Taiwan in Taipei last February. The Akatsuki Five were to play in November¡¯s scheduled window, which was eventually called off.
While the Asia Cup finals are scheduled to be held in Jakarta in August, the pandemic¡¯s continued impact has left the status of the tournament up in the air for now.
¡°Given the circumstances, we have not been given much information except for the fact that the (February) window has now been moved to Doha,¡± a JBA official told the Japan Times on Sunday.
¡°We don¡¯t even know if there is a space in the calendar for the (Asia Cup finals) to be held (if they are postponed).¡±
The announcement is another blow for the Akatsuki Five¡¯s preparations ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, which are scheduled to open on July 23 after a year-long postponement caused by the pandemic.
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