adminTOKYO. — The postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics will be cancelled if the coronavirus pandemic isn’t brought under control by next year, the organising committee’s president said in comments published yesterday.
Tokyo 2020 is now scheduled to run from July 23 to August 8 next year after being delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The pandemic has already forced a year-long delay of the Games, which are now scheduled to open on July 23, 2021, but Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori said no further postponement was possible.
The postponed Tokyo Olympics will be “scrapped” if they cannot take place in 2021, says Games chief Mori.
In an interview with Japan’s Nikkan Sports daily, Mori was categorical when asked if the Olympics could be delayed until 2022 if the pandemic remains a threat next year, replying: “No.”
“In that case, it’s cancelled,” Mori said.
Mori said the Games had been cancelled previously only during wartime and compared the battle against coronavirus to “fighting an invisible enemy”.
However, the Tokyo 2020 president said he was confident the rescheduled Games would go ahead.
“This Olympics would be much more valuable than any Olympics in the past if we could go ahead with it after winning this battle,” he told Nikkan Sports.
“We have to believe this, otherwise our hard work and efforts will not be rewarded.”
If the virus is successfully contained, “we’ll hold the Olympics in peace next summer”, he added. “Mankind is betting on it.”
Under heavy pressure from athletes and sports associations, Japanese organisers and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) agreed in March to a year-long postponement of the Games.
Organisers and Japanese officials have said the delayed Olympics will be a chance to showcase the world’s triumph over the coronavirus, but questions have arisen about whether even a year’s postponement is sufficient.
Yesterday, the head of Japan Medical Association, Yoshitake Yokokura, warned it would be “exceedingly difficult” to hold the Games next year if a vaccine had not been found.
“I am not saying that Japan should or shouldn’t host the Olympics, but that it would be difficult to do so,” he said.
“If the infections are under control in Japan, it will still be difficult to hold the Games unless the pandemic is over in the rest of the world.”
Most experts think a vaccine is likely to become available by mid-2021, though others have warned there is no guarantee a vaccine can be successfully developed.
Mori added that the Olympics and Paralympics — which will now run from August 24 to September 5, 2021 — could share opening and closing ceremonies as a way of cutting costs.
“Given that the situation has dramatically changed, we have to review key areas, including the ceremonies,” he said.
“It’s going to be a considerable cut in costs and a big message of victory against the global crisis — but it’s not easy.” However, Mori said he had not yet asked the International Olympic Committee and International Paralympic Committee whether they would agree to such a plan, and acknowledged that tickets had already been sold for the separate opening and closing ceremonies.
And last week a Japanese medical expert who has criticised the country’s response to the coronavirus warned that he was “very pessimistic” that the postponed Olympics can be held in 2021. — AFP.
Online Reporter