No deadline for a decision on the holding of the Olympic Games, according to an IOC official - France 24

Sydney (AFP)

No date has been set for a decision on a possible cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics, a senior official of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Australian John Coates, said on Tuesday, who also said that the event was being prepared as expected.

As skepticism grows in Japan on the continuation of the Games in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the IOC does not deviate from its path and meets on Tuesday its Executive Board to officially "prepare an exchange of information" with the international federations and the sportsmen more and more worried.

In late February, Canadian Dick Pound, who is a member of the IOC, said that a decision regarding the Olympic Games should be taken within two or three months.

But Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates, who chairs the Olympic Games Coordination Commission, contested the schedule put forward by Mr. Pound.

"The IOC has not adopted any of the dates that Dick has put forward and I believe Dick has also backtracked," said the Australian in Switzerland, in remarks reported Tuesday by the Sydney Morning Herald. "Everything is running its course for the opening on July 24".

The deadline mentioned by Mr. Pound "was never the position of the IOC. It was Dick's idea", he also argued. "There are still four months left."

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and IOC boss Thomas Bach have repeatedly argued that preparations for the Games should continue, even as countries around the world are confining themselves to the explosion the number of Covid-19 cases.

There is still no official question of mentioning a possible postponement or even cancellation of the Olympic Games on Tuesday. But to "prepare an exchange of information" with international federations, National Olympic Committees and athletes.

These discussions, which will follow the meeting of the Olympic executive, must notably relate to the thorny question of qualifications for Tokyo, while the list of canceled events is growing, and will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday by conference calls.

"The difficulty for those who have qualified or who will qualify is that they will no longer have international competitions," said Coates, who also admitted that bringing athletes to Japan would also be a challenge, he said. given the risk of spread.

© 2020 AFP