Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday it would be “difficult” to hold the postponed Tokyo Olympics if the coronavirus pandemic is not contained.
The premier’s remarks came a day after Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori said in an interview with a local sports daily the Olympics will have to be cancelled if the coronavirus pandemic isn’t brought under control by next year.
Abe told parliament: “We must hold the Olympics as a testament to humanity’s victory over the coronavirus.”
“If we’re not in such situation, it’s difficult (to hold) the Games,” he said, insisting the importance of developing vaccines and drugs.
He added: “We’ve been saying we will hold the Olympics and Paralympics in which athletes and spectators can participate safely and in a complete form. I think (the Olympics) cannot be held in a complete form if the pandemic is not contained.”
The pandemic has already forced a year-long delay of the Games, which are now scheduled to open on July 23, 2021.
‘Several hundred million dollars’
Lausanne: The postponement to 2021 of the Olympic Games in Tokyo because of the coronavirus pandemic will cost the International Olympic Committee (IOC) “several hundred million dollars”, its president Thomas Bach said on Wednesday.
“We already know that we have to shoulder several hundred million US$ of postponement costs,” the German wrote in a letter to the Olympic movement, warning that, while the IOC would honour its financial obligations to Tokyo, it would probably have to make cuts.
“We also need to look into and review all the services that we provide for these postponed Games,” he said.
“The IOC will continue to be responsible for its share of the operational burden and its share of the costs for these postponed Games.”
The IOC, which has approximately $1 billion (926 million euros) in reserves, took the historic decision to postpone the Games, scheduled to open on July 24, until July 23 to August 8, 2021.