Inaugural Vietnam Formula One GP To Go Ahead Despite Virus Fears
18th February 2020
The virus, which has killed more than 1,800 people in China, has trashed Asia's sporting calendar, forcing the postponement of top events including the Hong Kong Sevens rugby
- Vietnam's inaugural Formula One Grand Prix will take place in Hanoi in April as planned, organisers told AFP on Tuesday, avoiding the fate of the Chinese Grand Prix which was postponed over the deadly coronavirus outbreak
- But Vietnamese authorities said the country's inaugural F1 race would go ahead as "scheduled" on April 5, Le Ngoc Chi, CEO of Vietnam Grand Prix told AFP.
- That flies in the face of mounting fears over the spread of the virus from neighbouring China and the risk of transmission among the crowds expected to make the journey to the Vietnamese capital
HANOI,
Vietnam- Vietnam's inaugural Formula One Grand Prix will take place in Hanoi in April as planned, organisers told AFP on Tuesday, avoiding the fate of the Chinese Grand Prix which was postponed over the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
The virus, which has killed more than 1,800 people in China,
has trashed Asia's sporting calendar, forcing the postponement of top events
including the Hong Kong Sevens rugby.
But Vietnamese authorities said the country's inaugural F1
race would go ahead as "scheduled" on April 5, Le Ngoc Chi, CEO of
Vietnam Grand Prix told AFP.
That flies in the face of mounting fears over the spread of
the virus from neighbouring China and the risk of transmission among the crowds
expected to make the journey to the Vietnamese capital.
"The time for the... F1 race will not be postponed or
delayed," Tran Trung Hieu, deputy director of Hanoi's tourism department
was quoted as saying by state media Tuesday.
"Although this is a sports event, it has a very huge
impact on Vietnam and Hanoi's tourism," he said, adding all measures will
be taken to ensure safety.
AFP reporters saw workers building stands at the racetrack
as construction continued this week.
Last week, Vietnam became the only country outside of China
to enforce a mass quarantine of a community to contain a cluster of virus
cases.
Checkpoints have been set up around the six villages that
make up Son Loi, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) outside Hanoi after six people
were detected with the virus there.
Vietnam, which shares a porous border with China, has 16
confirmed cases of the coronavirus, including those in Son Loi.
It banned all flights to and from mainland China in a bid to
stop the virus from spreading.
It also suspended new tourist visas for Chinese nationals or
foreigners who had been in China over the past two weeks.
The communist country will get its first taste of the glitz
and glamour of Formula One with the Hanoi race, as the sport attempts to reach
new markets in Southeast Asia.
Hanoi has bet big on the event's popularity, signing a
10-year, multi-million-dollar deal with Formula One last year which state media
said would cost Vietnam $60 million per year.
The fee has been picked up in full by the country's largest
private conglomerate, VinGroup, which is hoping to dazzle with a night race on
a street track.
The commitment to hold the race will likely be welcomed by
Formula One chiefs who are scrambling to fit the postponed Shanghai race into
this season's schedule.
The Chinese GP, scheduled for April 19, last week joined the
World Athletics Indoor Championships and European Tour and LPGA golf
tournaments in being shelved because of the deadly outbreak.