By Canadian Press

Travel restrictions amid Omicron variant force cancellation of Winter Universiade

Nov 29, 2021 | 11:00 AM

The impact from the new COVID-19 variant is being felt in the sports world.

The Winter Universiade in Lucerne, Switzerland, was cancelled on Monday, less than two weeks before the Games were scheduled to open.

Canada was to send a team of 102 student athletes to the Games, in nine teams across seven sports.

Originally scheduled to be held in January 2021, the Games had already been postponed almost a year.

The decision to cancel the Dec. 11-21 Games came after Switzerland imposed border restrictions on travellers from several countries where the new Omicron variant had been discovered. 

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Athletes from those countries would have been required to quarantine in Switzerland for 10 days upon arrival. 

Organizers cited “highly dynamic developments in the pandemic and related incoming travel restrictions” for the decision, saying in a statement that “as a result of these official restrictions, the Winter Universiade 2021 cannot now take place.” 

Students from more than 500 universities and more than 50 countries were scheduled to compete.

Canada was scheduled to compete in men’s and women’s hockey and curling, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, biathlon, snowboarding and short track speedskating. 

It would have been the first FISU Universiade since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 Summer World University Games in Chengdu, China were postponed to 2022.

The women’s junior field hockey World Cup, scheduled for Dec. 5-16 in Potchefstroom, South Africa, has also been postponed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 29, 2021. 

The Canadian Press