NEW DELHI: The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) on Friday postponed the SAAF Cross Country Championships and the 56th National Cross Country Championships, scheduled to be held in Nagaland on January 15, due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.
"SAAF Cross Country & 56th National Cross Country Championships 2022 scheduled to be held in #Kohima Nagaland on January 15th 2022 is POSTPONED due #Omicron," AFI tweeted. "Fresh dates will be announced later."
The tournament was set to be the first-ever international athletics event in the state of Nagaland.
The bid to host the South Asian Athletics Federation (SAAF) Cross Country Championship was made by Nagaland Athletics Association (NAA) with the support of Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio.
The single-day rise in coronavirus infections was recorded above one lakh after 214 days, taking India's total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,52,26,386 which includes 3,007 cases of Omicron reported across 27 states and union territories, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday.