The organising committee of the postponed 2020 Olympic Games has ruled out holding the event this year without spectators despite mounting health fears amid the coronavirus pandemic.
A decision to postpone the 2020 Games was taken in March last year but the Japanese government, the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have all publicly said the event will go ahead this year.
Japan has reported more than 384,000 cases of the coronavirus, including more than 5,500 deaths. A state of emergency in Tokyo and three other provinces were declared this month for the second time after a shocking rise in cases in December last year.
The organising committee told Al Jazeera in a statement that “we are not willing to see the Games without spectators”.
“Tokyo 2020 is making efforts to accommodate spectators as much as possible, while implementing thorough measures to prevent infection … the upper limit on the number of spectators will be in
line with the limits in force in Japan at the time,” it said in the statement.
On Friday, Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga promised to deliver “hope and courage” to the world by hosting the Olympic Games despite fears that the event – scheduled to run from July 23 to August 8, 2021 – may be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
On Wednesday, IOC President Thomas Bach told a news conference the organisation’s “task is to prepare Olympic Games, not cancel them” after he was pressed on a report the government will cancel the event.
“Our task is also to make Olympic dreams of athletes come true,” Bach said. “We are working day and night to organise a safe Games and won’t add fuel to all these kinds of speculations.”
The IOC told Al Jazeera in a statement that in addition to the government, the “Organising Committee and the Japanese Olympic Committee are all fully behind the Games”.
“In conversations with all 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) last week, they expressed confidence, enthusiasm and hope for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 this summer,” the statement added.
While the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee did not answer Al Jazeera’s question on whether a safe Olympics can be held, it “hoped that daily life can return to normal as soon as possible”.
Source : Al Jazeera
The Ethiopian Herald January 31/2021
