A majority of Japanese are against holding the Tokyo Olympics in 2021

The majority of Japanese oppose the holding of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which is postponed until next year due to the Corona pandemic, and prefer a new postponement or a complete cancellation of the mega-sporting event, according to an opinion poll Tuesday.

The new data shows that public sentiment has changed since the summer, when polls in Japan also found that only a minority supported plans to hold the Games next year, despite the impending arrival of new vaccines.

An opinion poll published by the national radio, "NHK" Tuesday showed that only 27 percent of those polled support holding the Games next year, while 32 percent support its cancellation, and 31 percent support a new delay.

As for the rest of the respondents, they are either not sure of their answers, or they have not provided any.

Olympics organizers and Japanese officials have ruled out any further delays for the Games, the first to be postponed in peacetime.

They insist that the games can be held even if the epidemic is not under control by the new opening date of July 23, 2021.

But the Japanese audience is not convinced.

Another opinion poll published by the Japanese news agency "Jiji" on Monday showed that 21 percent support the cancellation, and about 30 percent support another delay.

A Kyodo News poll published on December 6 indicated that 61.2 percent oppose the holding of the Games next year.

In Japan, there has been a relatively small outbreak of Covid-19 overall, with more than 2,500 deaths out of 170,000 confirmed cases.

The additional cost of the postponement will reach $ 2.4 billion, according to what the organizers announced at the beginning of this month, noting that $ 1.5 billion will be allocated to operating costs related to the delay, with $ 900 million earmarked for spending on measures to combat the Corona pandemic.

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