As a result of the coronavirus, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games have been postponed to the summer of 2021. But they will be canceled if the pandemic is not brought under control by then, the chairman of the Japanese organizing committee said in an interview on Tuesday , Yoshiro Mori. If the pandemic is still underway "then the Games will have to be canceled", said Yoshiro Mori in an interview with the sports daily Nikkan , explaining that it would be impossible to postpone them again.
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"A bet made by humanity"
While recalling that the Olympics have so far been canceled only during wartime, Yoshiro Mori compared the fight against the Covid-19 to "a battle against an invisible enemy". "We will organize the Games in peace next year", if the virus is contained, he repeated, "it is the bet made by humanity".
Already last week, President Yoshiro Mori estimated that there was "no" chance that the Olympic and Paralympic Games could be postponed beyond the date now scheduled, with an opening on July 23, 2021, according to comments reported by the Japanese news agency Kyodo News.
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A pessimistic infectious disease specialist
"Honestly, I don't think it is likely that the Olympics will take place next year," Kentaro Iwata, a professor in the department of infectious diseases at Kobe University in the west, said on Monday (April 20). an online press conference.
At the end of March, the organizers announced that "the Olympic Games will be held from July 23 to August 8, 2021. The Paralympics will take place from August 24 to September 5".