Coronavirus interrupts Olympic preparation for Sharp's Kookaburras

Lithgow export and Kookaburras' top goal scorer Lachi Sharp said it meant the squad would miss out on the European leg of their 2020 FIH Pro League campaign, key to their Olympic preparation.

"They have also postponed a tournament in Malaysia called the Sultan of Azlan Shah Cup 'til November, which means we miss 12 matches in the lead up to Tokyo which was crucial to our preparation," he said.

Fortunately Sharp said missing the pro league games wouldn't affect world ranking points or pro league standings and the squad would continue to train for the Olympics.

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"At this time we are just continuing to train for the next couple of weeks in Perth, while HA are striving to find some more games against international opponents to continue our preparation for Tokyo," he said.

Hockey Australia head of high performance Toni Cumpston said HA placed the safety and wellbeing of their athletes and staff as a number one priority.

"This decision has not been taken lightly, however we believe that at this point in time, it is the right and only one we can make to ensure the health and safety of our athletes and staff, and provide our programs with the least amount of risk in terms of impacting their Olympic preparation," he said.

"Our view is that even with taking every precaution around travel hygiene, we would be heading into areas of known risk, which is just not sensible when we also have an Olympic campaign to navigate."

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