TEHRAN, Apr. 21 (MNA) – Iran’s national beach handball team is going to compete in the 6th edition of Asian Beach Games which is slated to be held in November in China.

This is the first time Iran handball is going to compete in the event. The team ranked third in the last Asian Championships held in China in June 2019.

The sixth Asian Beach Games are set to be held in Sanya from November 28 to December 6 in 17 sports disciplines with participation from all 45 member National Olympic Committees (NOCs).

Officials at the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) said that the competition will be held as no case of COVID-19 has been reported in the area.

“The OCA has been in regular contact with the organising committee and with the Chinese Olympic Committee over the past three months and we have been very impressed with how the authorities have handled the Covid-19 outbreak in Sanya City and Hainan province,” said Al-Musallam, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) director general, Sportbusiness reported on April 15. “We appreciate there is still a long way to go in respect of controlling and preventing the spread of Covid-19 around Asia because the health, safety and well-being of our athletes is the most important factor.

“However, we remain hopeful that our Asian Beach Games can go ahead as planned in seven months’ time. We will continue to monitor the situation with the organising committee, the Chinese Olympic Committee and with all our National Olympic Committees in the five zones of Asia,” he added.

MAH/ 4905523