Coronavirus: Turkish boxers test positive after London event, IOC under fire

Two Turkish boxers and their head coach have tested positive for coronavirus after returning home from the Olympic boxing qualifying tournament.

The International Olympic Committee has been accused of putting athletes' health in jeopardy.

Two Turkish boxers and their head coach have tested positive for coronavirus after returning home from the Olympic boxing qualifying tournament -- which featured around 350 pugilists  from 40 countries. The event was suspended after three days owing to concerns over the COVID-19.

According to a report by The Guardian , now, the International Olympic Committee has been accused of putting athletes' health in jeopardy. Eyup Gozgec, the president of the Turkish Boxing Federation, stated that all three had caught COVID-19 in London.

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“While the whole world was taking extreme measures to deal with the virus, I am baffled that an IOC taskforce and the British government allowed the tournament to start even though many of us had concerns and almost every other sport had shut down,” he told the newspaper. “It was irresponsible. And as a result, unfortunately three of our team have now tested positive.”

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Gozgec, who is also the vice-president of the European Boxing Confederation, said he would be writing to the IOC to make a complaint, adding there was not enough medical precautions either at the venue or the hotel where the fighters stayed.

The IOC spokesperson said: “For understandable reasons we will wait to receive the details from those concerned before making an informed comment.”