THE SIDELINES : Barcelona Asks Delay on ’92 Events

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Barcelona Olympic organizers asked the International Olympic Committee today to postpone deciding whether an outbreak of deadly horse fever in Spain makes it unsafe to hold equestrian events there during the 1992 Summer Games.

Mayor Pascal Maragall and Josef Abad, chief executive officer of the Barcelona Olympic Organizing Committee, told the IOC’s executive board that any decision should be put off until the IOC’s next session in Tokyo in September, 1990.

Both said that would allow officials to assess the damage from the outbreak of African equine fever and give enough time to find another site if Barcelona proves unsafe.