Washington (AFP)
With the coronavirus pandemic, athletes and the Olympic movement are facing the worst crisis they have had to face since the boycotts of the 1980s, said Thursday Richard Pound, veteran member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
According to the Canadian lawyer, former IOC vice-president and former president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to the postponement to 2021 of the Tokyo Games, originally scheduled for this summer, causes upheaval for broadcasters, officials and athletes.
"They understand very well, ultimately, that public health will be the determining factor," Pound told AFP.
The United States boycotted the Moscow Games in 1980 and the Soviet Union responded by refusing to participate in the Los Angeles Olympics four years later, depriving many athletes of their Olympic dreams.
"We haven't had anything like that since the American boycott of Moscow: a whole generation of athletes whose dreams are evaporating," said Pound. "There, it would be even more extreme."
Pound called this crisis "uncharted territory" for the Olympic movement, adding: "You can go crazy by sketching out all the possible scenarios."
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