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In the 2022 Women’s Volleyball Asian Cup group match between China and Iran, the women’s volleyball players wore masks in the first game
The Chinese women’s volleyball team wore an N95 mask in the 2022 Women’s Volleyball Asian Cup group match against Iran on August 25, which aroused the focus of international public opinion and also caused a public storm in China.
Many Chinese netizens expressed their anger, believing it was a “zero policy” for the new crown at the expense of players’ health. Some netizens even accused that this was the result of China’s extreme epidemic prevention measures, which made athletes “disgraceful and thrown abroad”.
In the game, Chinese women’s volleyball players wearing masks lost in the first game to the Iranian team. In the second game, the Chinese players took off their masks, and they defeated their opponents in straight sets and entered the quarter-finals with the first place in the group.
The Chinese women’s volleyball team has always been among the strongest teams in the world and has won the world championship for many times. In 2022, the Chinese women’s volleyball team will be ranked fourth in the world, after the United States, Brazil and Italy. The Iranian women’s volleyball team did not enter the top 20 in the world.
This originally unsuspenseful match became the focus of media attention because of the Chinese women’s volleyball players wearing masks.
official apology
Especially in the face of criticism from Chinese netizens, the Chinese Volleyball Association has issued a public apology letter explaining the reasons for wearing masks.
image source,EPA
With the popularization of the new crown vaccine, many countries in the world, including North Korea, have relaxed control over the epidemic, but China still implements strict prevention and control policies and is “like an enemy” against the new crown virus.
The Chinese Volleyball Association said it sincerely apologizes for “the trouble caused by the lack of meticulous work”.
The open letter also explained that before the game, the Chinese women’s volleyball players “learned that some athletes in the participating teams had been infected”, “and some of our athletes also had symptoms”. In order to prevent the risk of the spread of the epidemic, the team started from protecting the health of the athletes and asked the athletes to enter the competition venue. Always wear a mask.
“Because the Organizing Committee has not made clear regulations on whether athletes should wear masks in the game, our athletes wear masks after the start of the game to protect themselves. Due to our lack of experience on the field, we did not remind the athletes to take off their masks in time.”
“In the second half of the game, after realizing that playing with a mask is not good for the health of the players, the team reminded them in time, and our players took off the masks and completed the next game.”
critical voice
Netizens expressed more criticism of the apology from the Chinese Volleyball Association, believing that such an apology letter is suspected of shirking responsibility.
Because the apology letter did not clearly state who made the decision to “require athletes to wear masks when entering the competition venue”, but it clarified the person’s responsibility, because the purpose was to “prevent the spread of the epidemic” and “protect the health of athletes” .
Wearing a mask in the competition is “athletes to protect themselves”, “the organizing committee has not made clear regulations.”
As for the Volleyball Association itself, “we were inexperienced on the spot and didn’t remind us in time.” Only halfway through the first game did I realize that playing with a mask is not good for players’ health.
Netizens criticized the Chinese Volleyball Association’s apology as “irrational,” “playing the ball,” and “weird.” Some netizens ridiculed the Chinese Volleyball Association for being politically savvy on the issue of epidemic prevention, but at the cost of disregarding professional common sense.
Some commentators believe that Chinese netizens criticize the women’s volleyball team wearing masks so strongly, which actually reflects the Chinese people’s extreme dissatisfaction with the current epidemic prevention policy.
Precedents of masks during the new crown epidemic
image source,PA Medium
At the closing ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics, participants wore masks
Since the global epidemic of the new crown epidemic in early 2020, it has once seriously hindered the smooth progress of international sports competitions.
Most notably, the Tokyo Olympics were originally scheduled to be held in the summer of 2020. The pandemic has delayed the biggest sporting event in the world for a full year, with many stadiums without spectators.
In addition, the Winter Olympics held in Beijing at the beginning of this year also caused a lot of criticism and dissatisfaction due to strict epidemic control.
However, it is not the first time that athletes wear masks during sports competitions.
Earlier this year, both sides wore masks during a hockey match between the Canadian and Russian Olympic Committees amid concerns about the results of coronavirus tests.
Later, the team members from both sides took off their masks after learning that the monitoring results were negative.