The Tokyo Games is likely to take place behind closed doors as a senior Olympic chief said spectators were ‘not a must-have’ and are considering making the Olympics a TV-only event, with a decision that is set to be done in March.
International Olympic Committee president, Thomas Bach on Thursday admitted that the organizers have to be ‘flexible’ as the coronavirus cases in Japan are on the surge.
International Olympic Committee’s most senior member, Dick Pound said that “It’s nice to have spectators but it’s not a must-have.”
“If the Olympics cannot be held this summer, they will be canceled altogether rather than postponed again. Pound said: ‘It’s either 2021 or nothing’.
He further added that “Nobody can guarantee the Olympics will open on July 23. But I think there’s a very, very, good chance that they can and that they will.”
“They’re not going to cancel unless there’s a consensus among the government, health authorities, and the IOC that it would be too dangerous.”
Also, the International Olympic Committee denied the rumours of this summer’s Tokyo Olympic Games being cancelled due to Covid-19 are “categorically untrue”. The Japanese government on Friday said that it is determined that the Games will go ahead of an unconfirmed report that the event might get cancelled.
2012 London Olympics organizer Sir Keith this week claimed that it was “unlikely” the Tokyo Games would go ahead and said that organizers should be “making plans for cancellation”.
However, International Olympic Committee president, Bach has a more positive tone ahead of Saturday’s six-months-to-go mark and said that “We have at this moment no reason whatsoever to believe that the Olympic Games in Tokyo will not open on July 23”.
“This is why there is no plan B and this is why we are fully committed to making these games safe and successful.”
