Baseball Australia forced into gut-wrenching decision to quit Olympic journey

Baseball Australia says “insurmountable challenges” of Covid has forced the team make the “gut-wrenching” decision end their Olympic dream.

Baseball Australia has made the “gut-wrenching” decision to withdraw from this month’s Olympic qualifier in Mexico.

A combination of “insurmountable challenges” made it impossible for Australia to travel to and from Mexico, and then potentially onto Tokyo, with all Covid bio security guidelines and quarantine requirements.

While Australia’s chances of winning the tournament and punching a ticket to Tokyo appeared slim at first, a spate of recent withdrawals gave the Aussies hope.

World number four Chinese Taipei pulled out of the event last week.

China had already withdrawn from the Final Qualifier before it was moved from Taiwan to Mexico.

The Mexico qualifier - reduced to three countries, The Netherlands and two out of the Americas pool - is slated for June 22-26.

Baseball Australia chief executive Glenn Williams, won silver with Team Australia at the 2004 Olympics, lamented the gut-wrenching decision.

“Attending the Final Olympic Qualifier in a COVID world was always going to present significant challenges,” Williams said.

“The planning for Taiwan was extensive and with the late change in location and dates, those plans became obsolete.

“We worked through multiple options and scenarios but the logistical challenges of providing a safe environment for the group were insurmountable.”

Athlete health and safety, coupled with travel conditions, combined to create “too many unanswered questions” and “significant risks” in getting back to Australia.

“The complexity of moving such a large group, through two countries, with limited flight availability, presented a real risk of members of the group being stranded overseas and requiring medical treatment,” Williams said.

“Timing of entry back into Australia also presented difficulties in establishing a clear path to Tokyo for the team if they qualified.

“Even if Team Australia were successful in winning the event, the timing didn’t allow for the team to complete quarantine in Australia and meet the requirements of entry to the Tokyo games.”

The qualifier was moved last month as Taiwan battled a surge in Covid-19 cases and enforced a range of new measures which would have kept foreign residents out of the country until after the event was set to start.

Originally published as Baseball Australia forced into gut-wrenching decision to quit Olympic journey