Asia and Oceania Olympic and Paralympic Qualification Regatta is confirmed

Following extensive discussions with all key stakeholders, the World Rowing Executive Committee has verified that the preparations of the Organising Committee (OC) of the Asia and Oceania Olympic and Paralympic Continental Qualification Regatta conforms to the World Rowing requirements for 2021 regattas and has therefore confirmed that the regatta will take place in Tokyo, Japan from 5 to 7 May 2021.  World Rowing and the Japan Rowing Association have confirmed with the national and local government authorities that teams will be able to enter Japan for this event. The requirements and obligations for entry into Japan will be explained on the OC website.

As previously stated, the decision-making framework for all events during the pandemic begins with two key considerations: first, the ability of the organising committee and the host city to still stage the event in the current circumstances and, second, the full commitment of the organising committee and host city to implement the strict COVID-19 transmission mitigation measures required by World Rowing’s “Return to Regattas” guidelines. In addition, a third consideration applied to Olympic and Paralympic qualification events is whether a “fair and equal opportunity to access the event” can be achieved for teams travelling globally to participate.

As required by World Rowing’s event management guidance (Return to Regattas, found here) which was successfully tested during 2020, the OC has developed a covid-19 Protection Plan for staging the event based on the recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO) & World Rowing. The plan has been carefully reviewed and approved by the Local Health Authorities. World Rowing and the OC are confident that the measures planned to be in place are appropriate to minimise the risk of transmission and infection at the event. The event covid-19 Response Plan will soon be available online at www.jara.or.jp/eng/index.html .

Each Member Federation is responsible to exercise maximum care for its team members before, during and after the event. All participants must follow the measures in the OC covid-19 Protection Plan at all times, including the wearing of masks at all times except in the boat, on an ergometer or at meals, social distancing and regular disinfection, among the other measures published by the OC.

In addition to meeting any local government requirements, each participant at the regatta will be required to complete a Pre-Event Health Questionnaire and Member Federations are obliged to sign a consent form accepting responsibility for their team members. The forms will be sent out to Member Federations directly by the Tokyo OC and must be completed and returned to the OC by email to aoopqr@jara.or.jp . In addition, all participation conditions will be explained to participating athletes and officials in a webinar to be organised before travel to the event. To protect the health of all participants, anyone not adhering to the participation conditions will be immediately disqualified and excluded from the event, at the discretion of the World Rowing Executive Committee.

It is now important for participating teams to act quickly and make contact with the OC to reserve accommodation, receive VISA invitations and make arrangements for boats. If you have any question please contact the event manager Paolo Mattana at paolo.mattana@worldrowing.com and the OC at aoopqr@jara.or.jp .

World Rowing and the Tokyo OC continue to monitor the covid-19 situation in Tokyo and the latest recommendations from the WHO and local health authorities. Any further updates will be communicated to the Member Federations directly.

Member Federation Zoom Meeting

World Rowing will hold a Video Conference Call for Member Federations tomorrow, Tuesday 9 March 2021 at 09:00 hrs CET to cover essential elements of these decisions and as an opportunity for representatives to ask any questions relating to these World Rowing events. Details of the Zoom Webinar with Member Federations will be sent by email.