I.OC Vice President John Coates has ruled out a last-minute Olympic cancellation 100 days before the planned opening ceremony in Tokyo. The summer games, postponed by a year, “will take place as planned,” said the head of the coordination commission of the International Olympic Committee for the major event in Japan.
Despite the further threatening corona situation, the Australian promised: “It will be the safest games that are possible.” The games in Japan’s capital had been postponed to this summer last year due to the pandemic and should open on July 23.
According to Coates, the extensive measures against the corona virus will “ensure that all participants and the Japanese population are safe”. The 70-year-old said in a video distributed by the IOC: “The athletes, the Olympic movement, the organizers and the Japanese people will be able to show that it is a victory for mankind over the pandemic.”
Large majority of the Japanese are against the games
According to surveys, more than 70 percent of the Japanese are currently in favor of canceling or rescheduling the summer games. Due to the fear of the virus spreading, foreign fans and athlete families as well as guests of sponsors and associations are denied entry to Japan. A series of handbooks will be drawn up for all authorized participants by June, which will define the rules of conduct for entry and residence in detail. The aim is to create an Olympic bubble and minimize contacts with Tokyo’s people.
However, IOC Olympic Director Christophe Dubi was confident that “the emotions will be even stronger” in the world of sports. For the first time, the global athlete community will meet again at the Olympics, explained Dubi. He expects the Olympians to be “in spite of the circumstances at the height of their capabilities”.
A two-month emergency for the greater Tokyo area was only lifted in mid-March. Since then, the number of new infections has risen again noticeably. Therefore, the measures for the capital were tightened again. A medical emergency was recently declared in Osaka Prefecture because the hospitals were overwhelmed by the spread of more contagious virus variants. The vaccination campaign is slow, and only a few of the 126 million Japanese have been fully vaccinated so far.
.
#pandemic #Olympic #Committee #rules #shortterm #cancellation #Tokyo #Games
source https://pledgetimes.com/despite-pandemic-olympic-committee-rules-out-short-term-cancellation-of-the-tokyo-games/
Disqus comments