Tokyo 2020: cancellation not possible for Japanese officials
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Japanese Olympic Committee remain determined to organize the Olympics.
REUTERS - Kim Kyung Hoon
Text by: Farid Achache Follow
4 min
The holding of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 seems "unlikely" due to the coronavirus epidemic according to a former official of the London 2012 Olympics. But Japan is hanging on and is not considering a cancellation for the moment.
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There is the official speech of Japan and the skeptics.
Among them, Keith Mills, deputy president of the organizing committee of the London Olympics, which took place in 2012. For Keith Mills, the holding of the Olympics next summer seems to be getting further and further away.
"
Personally, from where I am, seeing the epidemic in the world, in South America, in North America, in Africa, in Europe, it seems improbable to me
," he told the BBC Tuesday, January 19.
An inflexible course for the organizers
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Japanese Olympic Committee, however, remain determined to organize them.
Scheduled for 2020, the Olympics have been postponed to 2021. "
Holding the Games is our inflexible course and, at this stage, we are not discussing anything else,
" said Mr. Muto, the director general of the committee of organization, during an interview on Tuesday January 19 with AFP.
“
Obviously, the conditions to be put in place will be very important,
” concedes Muto.
And to add: "
It goes without saying that we need the understanding and the support of the population.
We want to prepare for the Games based on these principles.
"
Worried that the event will further worsen the local spread of the Covid-19 disease, more than 80% of Japanese are now very reluctant to organize the Olympics this year, preferring either a further postponement or an outright cancellation, according to a recent poll.
Faced with record cases of coronavirus, a state of emergency system was reinstated this month in much of Japan, including Tokyo and its suburbs, as in spring 2020.
Will the public be able to come in large numbers?
However, many questions concerning these Olympics remain unanswered, in particular on the number of spectators authorized to enter the country.
A decision will be made in the coming months.
"
It is not desirable that there are no fans
in the stands,
" said Mr. Muto, while not being able to guarantee for the moment the presence of spectators, in particular coming from abroad.
"
I have the impression, having exchanged a few days ago with the IOC, that everything is thought out, imagined to be able to adapt according to the health context, to find the solution so that the Games take place, with more or fewer spectators, it could be even behind closed doors if ever the sanitary conditions required it but the will is very strong to maintain this event
”, declared this Wednesday January 20 Tony Estanguet, president of the organizing committee of the Olympic Games 2024 from Paris.
The Tokyo 2020 organizing committee unveiled last December a battery of countermeasures against the coronavirus, supposed to allow the event to take place safely this summer, even if the vaccination is not widespread and if the pandemic is not under control by then.
In Japan, the vaccination campaign should start by the end of February and will not be extended to the entire population before May, according to several local media.
The Japanese organizers and officials of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have not yet raised the possibility of making vaccination compulsory for athletes and spectators of the Olympics.
The organization has already announced that the opening and closing ceremonies will be with far fewer athletes than usual.
Last week, an influential Japanese minister, Taro Kono, felt that no possibility should be ruled out concerning the Olympics.
And this weekend, a former IOC vice-president, Kevan Gosper, even suggested that the United Nations be consulted on whether or not to host the event this year.
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2020 Olympics
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