What will happen to the Tokyo Olympics if the coronavirus pandemic is not controlled within a year? They can not be postponed again and therefore will be permanently suspended, according to Tuesday's response from the head of the organizing committee, Yoshiro Mori.

In late March, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had made the landmark decision to postpone the Games , which were due to officially begin on July 24, 2020, as a result of growing concerns and pressure from athletes and federations. facing the world health crisis.

The Tokyo Games must now be held from July 23 to August 8, 2021 and the Paralympic Games from August 24 to September 5, 2021. But if the pandemic remains uncontrolled at that time, "then the Games, Mori declared on Tuesday in an interview agreed to the sports newspaper Nikkan, explaining that it would be impossible to postpone them again.

Asked about the prospect of a further postponement until 2022 if the pandemic is not under control in the Japanese summer of 2021, the chairman of the organizing committee was adamant, rejecting this possibility. Mori had pointed out last Thursday that "thinking about both the athletes and the problems it would pose for the organization, it is technically difficult to delay two years" the competition.

"Invisible enemy"

In mid-April, IOC President Thomas Bach had explained in this regard that the Olympic Games cannot be postponed beyond the now agreed date of 2021. "There is no plan for (new) postponement, but I am confident where all parties will come together and give us some wonderful Games, "Bach had said in an interview with the German newspaper Die Welt.

Recalling that the Games have so far only been canceled in wartime, Yoshiro Mori compared the fight against COVID-19 to "a battle against an invisible enemy". "We will organize the Games in peace next year," if the virus is contained, Mori repeated. "It is the bet made by humanity," added the president of the organizing committee for the Games.

At a press conference, the president of the Japan Medical Association, Yoshitake Yokokura , estimated for his part on Tuesday that the maintenance of the Games would be "excessively difficult" if no vaccine were available at that time. "I am not saying that they will not take place, but it would be excessively difficult," he said.

A "pessimistic" infectologist

That point of view had already been expressed on March 20 by the infectious disease specialist at Kobe University (west), Kentaro Iwata , who said at the time "pessimistic". "Honestly, I don't think the Olympics are likely to take place next year," Iwata told reporters.

After assuring for several weeks that the Tokyo Games would take place in the scheduled period, Japan and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided at the end of March to postpone them for one year, under pressure from athletes and sports associations from different countries.

Although the organizers want to make the Games a symbol of the world's resistance to the pandemic, the question of a longer postponement began to appear.

The postponement of the Games represents an immense logistical challenge for the organizers and could entail significant additional costs, the distribution of which between the organizing committee and the IOC has not yet been decided.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the European Football Championship and the Copa América, scheduled for 2020, were also postponed to 2021.

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