Hiro Komae / Associated Press
The Japanese government has “concluded in private “that the 2021 Olympic Games will have to be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report by Richard Lloyd Parry of The times.
“Nobody wants to be the first to say that, but the consensus is that it is very difficult,” a source told Lloyd Parry. “Personally, I don’t think this will happen.”
Japan is now trying to find a “saving way of announcing the cancellation that leaves Tokyo open to host at a later date. “
Publicly and officially, both the The International Olympic Committee and Japanese Olympic organizers were adamant that that the Games will take place, for Associated Press. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga called the 2021 games “proof of human victory against the coronavirus”.
But senior IOC member Dick Pound said that “I can’t be sure “the Games will happen because”the continuous elephant in the room would be the virus outbreaks. ” Japanese Minister Taro Kono, a member of Suga’s cabinet, added that “anything is possible “and attempts to maintain the Games” could go anyway. “
Keith Mills, deputy chairman of the London 2012 Olympics organizing committee, told the BBC on Tuesday (h / t the AP) that he believes the cancellation plans have probably already been hatched.
“But I think they will leave it to the last minute, if the situation improves dramatically, if vaccines occur faster than we all expect,” he said. “It is a difficult decision, I would not like to be in their place.”
IOC President Thomas Bach sought to drown out some of the talk that the Games could be canceled.
“At the moment, we have no reason to believe that the Tokyo Olympic Games will not open on July 23 at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium,” he said. told Kyodo News (h / t Victor Mather of New York Times) “There is no Plan B.”
He added that the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 are still on track to happen as scheduled.
The Tokyo Games were originally scheduled for the summer of 2020, but were postponed due to the coronavirus. With uncertainties regarding the state of the pandemic in July and doubts about the launch of the coronavirus vaccine, this year’s event remains on the air.
If the Summer Olympics are canceled, it will be the first time since World War II and could cost the IOC more $ 1 billion in television revenue, per Mather. The IOC is a non-profit organization, but “90 percent of the Games’ revenues go directly to the development of the sport and the athlete. “