Tokyo Olympics will run with or without COVID-19: IOC VP
International Olympic Committee vice-president John Coates, on Monday, said Tokyo Olympics will go ahead next year, regardless of the coronavirus pandemic. Despite the outbreak of COVID-19, the IOC has been adamant that the Tokyo Games will start on their revised date. Earlier, the 2020 Olympics were postponed due to the crisis and are now set to commence on July 23, 2021.
"It will take place with or without COVID. The Games will start on July 23 next year. The Games were going to be, their theme, the Reconstruction Games after the devastation of the tsunami," said Coates, who heads the IOC Coordination Commission for Tokyo Games.
Earlier. Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike reiterated that next year's Olympics will be safe amid the coronavirus pandemic. She pledged a "120 percent effort" to ensure the first-ever postponed Games can go ahead. Koike said the city was committed to holding the event as a "symbol of human triumph" over the virus, but admitted it would be downsized.
The group, comprising Japanese and IOC officials, met for the first time last week. "Their job now is to look at all the different counter-measures that will be required for the Games to take place," added Coates. "Some countries will have it (Covid) under control, some won't. We'll have athletes therefore coming from places where it's under control and some where it is not."
Coates highlighted the challenges faced by the Japanese government after the rescheduling of Olympics. "Now it's been postponed by one year, that's presented a monumental task in terms of re-securing all the venues, something like 43 hotels we had to get out of those contracts and re-negotiate for a year later," he stated. "Sponsorships had to be extended a year, broadcast rights."
This is the first ever edition of Olympics that has been canceled/postponed outside of the world wars. Previously, the Games have been suspended in 1916 (World War I), 1940 (World War II), 1944, (World War II) and 1980 (Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan).
In an historic decision, the 2020 Olympics were postponed due to the worldwide impact of the pandemic. However, as per the revised schedule, the Games are due to run from July 23 to August 8 next year. Meanwhile, Japan's borders are still largely closed to foreign visitors and a vaccine is months away. In this case, the feasibility of the Olympics might be questioned.
