LAUSANNE: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Thursday it is not aware of any link between an Olympic boxing tournament it oversaw in London this month and positive coronavirus tests for people who were there.

The IOC was accused of irresponsibility after the Turkish boxing federation said a boxer and a trainer now have the virus after attending the Olympic qualifying tournament, which was stopped on March 16 after three of the scheduled 11 days.

In a statement, the IOC said it was not possible to know the source of infection.

“Many participants were in independently organised training camps in Italy, Britain and in their home countries before the competition started on March 14 and have returned home a while ago,” the Olympic body said.

Responsibility for Olympic boxing was taken over by the IOC last year when it suspended governing body AIBA. A task force was appointed to organise a global series of qualifying tournaments with London hosting the European round.

The IOC also pointed to the British government’s role in allowing the boxing tournament to start.

“At the time of the European qualifier in London, there were many sports and other events going on in Britain because there were no governmental restrictions or advice on public events in place,” the IOC said.

In that same week, Liverpool hosted a Champions League game and a marquee horse racing meeting went ahead at Cheltenham.

“The [boxing] event was suspended when the COVID-19 situation developed further,” said the IOC, noting precautionary measures were in place in London. “No fans attended the last day of bouts.”

The Olympic task force expressed sympathy for the affected athletes and officials and wishes them a very speedy and full recovery.

The Turkish team said boxer Serhat Guler and trainer Seyfullah Dumlupinar tested positive for the coronavirus after returning from London. They spent eight days in England at a training camp before traveling to London.

All team members stayed at the same hotel and were quarantined when they returned to Turkey.

The federation said Guler and Dumlupinar are being treated in the hospital. Two other boxers who complained of high fever are awaiting the results of their tests.

“While the 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,” federation President Eyup Gozgec was quoted as saying in the Guardian.

European Boxing Confederation (EUBC) president Franco Falcinelli had said prior t the London event that he feared the risk of a boxer getting the virus there was “very high”

In a letter to other boxing federations, Gozgec, who is also vice-president of the EUBC, said: “Unfortunately, two of our athletes and our Turkish head coach have tested positive for the new type Covid-19 coronavirus after returning to Turkey from London.

“All of them are in treatment now and thankfully they are in good condition. This is the disastrous result of the irresponsibility of the IOC taskforce.

“This virus has been around since December 2019. Therefore, it is inevitable to ask why the European qualification event was not postponed before it took place? They did not consider anyone’s health, which led them to organise this horrible event.”

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2020