IOC, organizers contradict reports that Japan concludes Tokyo Olympics will be cancelled
Posted January 21, 2021 9:43 pm.
Last Updated January 22, 2021 2:33 am.
Local organizers and the President of the International Olympic Committee are now pushing back against earlier reports that the Tokyo Summer Olympics will have to be cancelled.
The local organizing committee released a statement confirming intentions to deliver the postponed Games as scheduled in the summer of 2021.
“All our delivery partners including the national government, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, the IOC and the IPC (International Paralympic Committee) are fully focused on hosting the games this summer,” the statement said.
The earlier reports suggested that the Japanese government has privately concluded the Games will not be able to go on because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Times of London is citing an unnamed senior member of the ruling coalition and says the government’s focus has turned to securing the Games for Tokyo at the next available year, which isn’t until 2032.
“No one wants to be the first to say so but the consensus is that it’s too difficult,” the source said. “Personally, I don’t think it’s going to happen.”
Speaking to the Japanese news agency Kyodo on Thursday, IOC President Thomas Bach said everything remains on track for the Games to happen.
“We have at this moment, no reason whatsoever to believe that the Olympic Games in Tokyo will not open on the 23rd of July in the Olympic stadium in Tokyo,” said Bach.
The Games were originally scheduled for July 24 to Aug. 9 in the summer of 2020, but had to be pushed back a year because of COVID-19.
Approximately 11,000 athletes are expected to compete in the Summer Olympics, and another 4,400 athletes will compete in the Paralympics.
The International Olympic Committee and Japanese organizers have been adamant in recent weeks that the Games will go on as scheduled.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has framed the Games as “proof of human victory against the coronavirus” and said this week that the event would “bring hope and courage to the world.”
Former IOC vice-president Dick Pound recently said he thought the Tokyo Olympics would go ahead despite surging coronavirus cases in Japan and around the globe. Though he speculated their may be no fans in attendance.
A recent poll in Japan shows that about 80 per cent of residents do not want the Games to go on as schedule amid fears it would contribute to the spread of the virus.
Japan has recently seen a spike in COVID-19 cases which has led the island nation to close its borders. Tokyo is currently under a state of emergency until at least Feb. 7.
Japan has seen 4,700 deaths from the virus and over 330,000 cases.
With files from the Associated Press
