Tokyo Games to be canceled if it is not held in 2021
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THE postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics will have to be canceled if the coronavirus pandemic isn’t brought under control by next year, the organizing committee’s president warned, ruling out further delays.
The comments, in an interview with a Japanese sports daily published yesterday, come as medical experts doubted whether the pandemic can be sufficiently contained by next year to hold an event drawing participants and spectators from around the world.
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 was categorical when asked by the Nikkan Sports daily whether the Games could be delayed until 2022 if the pandemic remains a threat next year, replying: “No. In that case, it’s canceled.”
Mori noted the Games had been canceled previously only during wartime, and compared the battle against coronavirus to “fighting an invisible enemy.”
If the virus is contained, “we’ll hold the Olympics in peace next summer,” he added. “Mankind is betting on it.”
Asked about Mori’s comments, Tokyo 2020 spokesman Masa Takaya emphasized organizers were focusing on next year. “New dates for the Tokyo 2020 Games have been set and our mission is to deliver the Games next year,” he said.
Mori “mentioned this comment in his own thoughts,” Takaya added.
But the comments will add to growing questions about the postponement, decided last month after heavy pressure on the organizers and the International Olympic Committee from athletes and sports federations.
The head of Japan Medical Association warned it would be “exceedingly difficult” to hold the Games next year if a vaccine has not been found.
“I would not say that they should not be held, but it would be exceedingly difficult,” Yoshitake Yokokura told reporters.
Several nations’ laboratories are working to find protective vaccines and drugs for the disease, but it could be many months before they become widely available due to the need for exhaustive clinical trials of their effectiveness and safety.
Postponing the Games is an enormous logistical and financial challenge, with the final price tag for the delay still unclear.
Mori said organizers were considering holding joint opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics and the Paralympics to cut costs. Under the plan, the Paralympics would join the Olympic opening ceremony on July 23, and the Olympic closing ceremony would be integrated into the Paralympics closing event in September.
But Mori admitted that Tokyo organizers had not yet obtained the consent of the IOC and their Paralympic counterparts.
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