"An Olympic Games behind closed doors is clearly something we do not want," said the head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, Thursday, adding that "multiple scenarios" were under consideration for the Olympic Games. Tokyo-2020 reprogrammed in 2021.
While safety is the primary concern of the organizers of the Tokyo Olympics, which were scheduled to start next week but were postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Bach has clearly expressed his reluctance to organize the Games in empty stadiums, a practice now common in sport.
Multiple scenarios envisaged
"An Olympics in camera is clearly something we don't want," he told reporters during a video conference. "So we are working for the Olympic Games which, on the one hand, safeguard the health of all participants and, on the other hand, reflect the Olympic spirit".
Thomas Bach and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe both warned that it would be difficult to postpone the Games beyond 2021, citing the nightmarish scenario of the first Olympics to be postponed in peacetime.
"The first priority is the safety of all participants," said Bach. "This is why we are currently working on multiple scenarios for organizing the Games depending on the health situation which we do not know how it will be in a year".
On Wednesday, Tokyo placed itself on “red” alert to the coronavirus, its highest level of alert after a resurgence of cases in the Japanese capital of 14 million inhabitants inserted in a megalopolis of some 37 million
- Sport
- Olympic Games
- Tokyo