KATHMANDU: Nepal is not going to participate in the Winter Olympics.
The Winter Olympics is starting in China on February 4 and will last till February 20.
Nepal’s participation in the Winter Olympics, which is being organized by China for the first time, will be nil as there are no athletes either through the selection and quota provisions.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nepal Olympic Committee (NOC) Chaturananda Baidya confirmed that Nepal would not participate in the Winter Olympics. “We didn’t even get a quota this time. Due to COVID19, we could not select the players. Nepal is not participating as the players are not participating,” he said.
Officials of the respective countries will, too, not be able to participate in the Winter Olympics if the athletes are not participating.
There is fierce competition among European countries in the Winter Olympics. Winter games are not popular in Nepal due to a lack of infrastructure and competition.
Players were scheduled to register for the tournament until last Sunday. International Olympic Committee (IOC) took initiative for player participation through the quota system, but to no avail for Nepal.
China is hosting the Winter Olympics for the first time. The 128th meeting of the IOC held in Kuala Lumpur in 2015 had decided that Beijing would host the tournament.
With this, Beijing has become the first city in the world to host both Summer and Winter Olympics.
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