COVID-19: Sydney Kings and Boomers star Andrew Bogut won’t go to Tokyo Olympics
Andrew Bogut has a well-earned reputation for straight talk, and the big Boomer pulled no punches when discussing why he thought the IOC was pushing ahead with the Tokyo Olympics.
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Andrew Bogut has ruled himself out of competing for the Boomers in Tokyo and believes the 2020 Olympic Games should not go ahead given the current state of the COVID-19 global pandemic. Speaking from behind a 1.5 metre buffer zone, the Sydney Kings star told reporters on Friday he is putting his family first and has no intention of travelling overseas until the coronavirus outbreak is under control.
“To go over there and go through airports and all that kind of stuff right now, I have no interest in doing it,” Bogut said. “It isn’t a case of me getting sick, I think we’re stubborn athletes, we’ll fight it off, we have that mentality. It’s family.”
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As the effects of the coronavirus outbreak continues to severely impact on sports around the world Bogut says he can’t see the Tokyo 2020 going ahead despite the IOC remaining defiantly optimistic about holding the Games. “We know the IOC loves money and they’re not going to try and lose any. We know Japan’s built some world class facilities and want to recoup their investment,” Bogut said.
“But what’s going on in the rest of the world, you can’t see it going ahead, if they do, maybe they postpone it.”
Bogut also continued his criticism of the NBL for its “retroactive” management of the Championship finals series between the Kings and Perth Wildcats during the pandemic.
The NBL championship series was halted on Tuesday when the Kings informed the league they were no longer comfortable participating in the series because of the threat posed by coronavirus especially regarding their import players.
Perth, who led the best-of-five games series 2-1 were subsequently awarded the title on Thursday in extraordinary circumstances as sports across the world shutting down as they grapple with the coronavirus crisis.
Bogut has no issue with the eventual decision but disappointed by the league’s inaction and says the players were “used like pawns”.
“To me, what’s more disappointing is how the NBL have handled this. That’s got nothing to do with Perth, I’ve got no issues with all that.
“The retroactive aspect of this (from the NBL) has been 10 out of 10. The proactive was barely one (out of 10), the reactive stuff is probably about five.”
Bogut says there was no contingency plans or scenarios planned out by the league, and that players were treated as “an afterthought”.
“The disappointing thing was that it was left up to the players to decide, that it was up to us to initiate these meetings, to push these meetings, to find out is there going to be a crowd?” Bogut said.
“Our front office had to call the league and Perth and go on a call to find out what was going on, are the fans coming in? We had to initiate that, I’m on record to say that because I know it’s a fact,” Bogut said.
The veteran big man said the NBL should have reached out to Sydney and Perth after COVID-19 shut down the NBA and Grand Prix.
“Just something, poke your head in the door and say hello, give us something, we heard nothing,” Bogut said. “If the NBL came out early in the week leading up to game 2, and came up with some sort of protocol or feedback … that would then give you peace of mind, it calms the storm a little bit … they’re thinking about our health and safety,” Bogut said.
“From a mental point of view, when you don’t hear any of that, you just feel like you’re a pawn in a machine and I struggled with that really bad mentally.”
Bogut also stands by Kings chairman Paul Smith and CEO Chris Pongrass who maintain that the NBL and Perth reneged on a verbal agreement that if COVID-19 interrupted the finals series, no winner would be declared.
“I wasn’t involved in those calls from the league, but I trust Paul Smith and Chris Pongrass, I have no reason to believe that they lied,” Bogut said.
“They’ve been straight shooters, tell the honest truth, sometimes it hurts but I haven’t caught them in a lie.”
Bogut also believes it’s reckless for the NRL and AFL to continue in the current climate. “I do (think it’s reckless) but it’s their decision, it’s not surprising. We know they want to get on with it and they are playing in front of no fans but that’s their decision,” Bogut said.
At the end of the day, what we’ve been shown throughout this is money rules. People don’t want to lose money … the sick v money battle, money almost always wins.”
Originally published as COVID-19: Sydney Kings and Boomers star Andrew Bogut won’t go to Tokyo Olympics