Paris (AFP)
An adaptation, not a revolution: The IOC continued on Thursday in its desire to preserve as much as possible the achievements by deciding that the athletes already qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games would remain so for the event postponed to 2021 due to the pandemic of coronavirus.
Meeting in teleconference, the officials of the International Olympic Committee and those of the 32 international federations concerned by the Summer Games have in fact adopted this basic principle, before even discussing a date for reprogramming the event which was to start on July 24 in the Japanese megalopolis.
"Thomas Bach (IOC President) first explained the reasons for the postponement, then said that the athletes qualified for Tokyo-2020 would automatically be qualified for 2021," said one of the participants in the AFP.
About 57% of the estimated 11,000 participants scheduled for the Olympic Games have already qualified, according to figures released earlier in the week by the IOC.
"One of the main subjects", continued the same source, "was to know when and how to organize the qualifications. In some federations, many sportsmen are not qualified and it takes at least three months before the Olympic Games to organize them. "
Certain sports, such as boxing, have in fact seen the vast majority of their qualifying tournaments interrupted or canceled due to the global health situation, while others, such as sailing, already have a staff of 90% of qualified.
"The allocated quotas remain allocated," confirmed another participant in Thursday's meeting, according to which the main concern of the stakeholders was the rescheduling of the Olympic Games.
"Thomas Bach has confirmed that a decision (on this matter) will be made within the next four weeks," he said. "Some said they prefer May 2021, others June ..." Many presidents have also expressed financial concerns, claiming in advance part of the sums traditionally allocated after the Olympic Games by the IOC to the federations.
The International Olympic Committee and the Japanese government agreed on Tuesday to postpone the Tokyo Olympics due to the sanitary situation, making the Olympics of the 32nd Olympiad the first not to argue on the date initially planned since World War II.
© 2020 AFP