1 July

The southern Pacific island nation of Samoa has decided not to send athletes to the Tokyo Olympics later this month due to the coronavirus pandemic, Radio New Zealand reported online Thursday.

The decision by the government the previous day was based on reports that Japan is logging many new virus cases each day, and because the chances of infection are high, according to Afamasaga Rico Tupa'i, the nation's communications minister.

If the report is true, Samoa would be the second country after North Korea to pull out of the sporting event slated to start in Tokyo in just over three weeks' time.

Samoa had already canceled pre-Olympic training camps for its men's and women's rugby sevens teams -- neither of which ended up qualifying for the games via the recent repechage tournament -- and weightlifting teams that were set to take place in Iwaki, a city in Japan's Fukushima Prefecture.

Kyodo news