Tokyo 2020 Updates: Olympics faces cancellation at the last minute?
The head of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee did not rule out a last-minute cancellation of the Olympics. As more athletes tested positive for COVID-19 and major sponsors have abandoned their plans to attend Friday’s opening ceremony.
Asked at a press conference if the world sporting event could cancel out. Toshiro Muto said he would monitor the contagion figures and contact other organizers if necessary.
” We cannot predict what will happen to the number of coronavirus cases. So we will continue to discuss whether there would be a peak in cases,” Muto said.
“We have agreed that depending on the coronavirus situation, we will reconvene five-party talks. At this time, coronavirus cases may increase or decrease , so we will think about what we should do when the situation occurs.”
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COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Tokyo and the Games, postponed last year due to the pandemic. It will take place without spectators. The government decided this month for participants to compete in empty venues to minimize health risks.
Japan, whose vaccination program has lagged behind that of most developed countries. It has recorded more than 840,000 cases and 15,055 deaths. And Tokyo, the host city of the Games, is seeing a further increase, with 1,387 registered cases on Tuesday.
Organizers, for whom International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said canceling the event had never been an option. They have promised to keep the Games “safe and secure.”
However, experts see loopholes in an Olympic “bubble” that requires frequent testing. And now it is designed to limit participants’ movements.
‘UNPRECEDENTED CHALLENGES’
The first major test of how an Olympic Games can take place in the midst of a pandemic may well come in the men’s soccer tournament. When Japan takes on a team from South Africa that may struggle to line up 11 players due to the coronavirus.
That match will be played on Thursday, the day before an opening ceremony in which main sponsor Panasonic Corp. As well as Fujitsu Ltd and NEC Corp will not be in attendance. Toyota Motor Corp withdrew all television commercials linked to the Games on Monday.
Bach, who was to meet with Japan’s Emperor Naruhito on Thursday according to Kyodo reports, said on Tuesday that organizers could never have imagined the “unprecedented challenges” of bringing the global event to Tokyo, praising the “heroic efforts” of the staff doctor and volunteers.
Two members of Mexico’s Olympic baseball team tested positive for COVID-19 at the team’s hotel prior to their departure to Tokyo.
