Tokyo (AFP)
The Tokyo Olympics, postponed to 2021, could be held in front of a "limited number of spectators" due to the coronavirus pandemic, the managing director of the organizing committee, Toshiro Muto, told the BBC on Wednesday.
"Everyone should focus on holding the event next year - we are on the same page" with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its president Thomas Bach, first said Mr. Muto regarding the Games now scheduled for July 23 to August 8, 2021.
According to Mr. Muto, the President of the IOC "does not want" the Olympics to take place behind closed doors but "could perhaps think about a limited number of spectators while taking full account of social distancing" to avoid any spread of the Covid -19.
"We need to build an environment where the public feels safe. Athletes like the IOC family could be tested before and after arriving in Japan," he said.
For Muto, it is "too optimistic to assume that all restrictions (in effect in Japan) will be lifted" next summer, leading to "thinking about other options" for organization, as the entry into Japanese territory is now prohibited to visitors from more than 100 countries.
Regarding the discovery of a proven vaccine, Muto said it would be "an advantage (but) not a prerequisite" for the Games to be held.
Recently, the president of the organizing committee Yoshiro Mori told him that "the first point (before the Olympics) will be the development of a vaccine or a drug".
For the president of the IOC coordinating committee for the 2020 Olympics, John Coates, speaking in an Australian daily, the organizers "advance on the basis that there will be no vaccine" in order to prepare for all scenarios.
Japan has so far experienced a relatively small coronavirus outbreak, with 1,001 deaths and 31,900 cases, but infections are on the rise, especially in the capital Tokyo.
© 2020 AFP