Tokyo Olympics: the IOC wants to "simplify" the organization - France 24

Lausanne (AFP)

The International Olympic Committee wants to "simplify the organization of the Games" in order to "reduce the costs" of the Tokyo Olympic Games, postponed by one year in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, said its president, Thomas Bach, on Wednesday in an interview with AFP.

"The impact is enormous (...) We have never had to postpone the Olympic Games, so there is no plan for this gigantic task which we must carry out and this under the very difficult circumstances of this pandemic, "said Bach.

"Therefore, we are looking, with our Japanese partners and friends, for ways to simplify the organization of the Games, to see how we can reduce the complexity of the Games and how we can reduce the costs of these postponed Games," added the German President of the IOC, following a meeting of the Executive Board of the body, held by videoconference.

During this meeting, a report was presented by the president of the Tokyo Olympics Coordination Commission, the Australian John Coates.

In Tokyo, the president of the Japanese Organizing Committee, Yoshiro Mori explained that due to the pandemic, "the world has changed, socially, economically and medically. We explained (to the IOC) how we are going to reschedule and reposition the organization of the Games ".

On March 24, faced with the coronavirus crisis, the IOC made the unprecedented decision in peacetime to postpone the Tokyo Games originally planned for this summer, which will now open on July 23, 2021.

Asked whether the IOC had set a deadline to decide whether or not to maintain the Olympic Games depending on the health situation, Mr. Bach replied: "There is no deadline. If there is a thing that we learned during this pandemic, this crisis, is that the situation evolves day by day, sometimes hour after hour ".

- "worthy" event -

While anti-racist demonstrations are multiplying in the world after the death of George Floyd, Mr. Bach, also called on Wednesday the sportsmen to demonstrate in a "dignified" manner while the placing of a knee on the ground, gesture become frequent, is formally banned by the Olympic Charter.

Many sportspeople kneel to the ground to show their support for the fight against racism after the death of George Floyd, a black man who died during a police arrest in late May in Minneapolis in the United States.

But this gesture is currently prohibited by rule 50 of the Olympic Charter which also prohibits hand gestures having political significance. Kneeling on the ground would therefore be prohibited during the Tokyo Olympics, which were postponed for a year, in 2021.

"We fully supported the initiative of the Athletes' Commission (IOC) to dialogue with its counterparts around the world to explore the different ways in which Olympic athletes can express their support for the principles contained in the Olympic Charter in a dignified manner", said Mr. Bach.

Bach, who said he refused to interfere in the work of the Athletes' Commission and give "directions or instructions", recalled that the Olympic Games are a "demonstration of support for the Olympic principles of no -discrimination. It's our DNA, one of the reasons for the Olympic Games. "

The IOC also announced on Wednesday that the full program of sports and disciplines for the Paris-2024 Olympic Games would be validated next December despite the postponement of one year of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in which certain additional sports such as surfing or skateboarding must be tested.

© 2020 AFP