Games postponement likely option: IOC member
Pound says separate communications for athletes, public were unnecessary
Richard Pound does not have the authority to postpone the Tokyo Olympics, nor has he been told the Games will in fact be rescheduled for 2021.
But the veteran member of the International Olympic Committee has been around the movement long enough to read between the lines.
His interpretation of two IOC statements issued Sunday led him to view postponement as the only option, despite the IOC’s contention that many scenarios, including an on-time start on July 24, are still on the table, and a decision will be reached within four weeks.
“It’s a deduction from having been around the IOC long enough to understand IOC-speak,” Pound said Monday from his law office in Montreal. “The communications yesterday, one for the athletes and one for general public consumption, were completely unnecessary if there was going to be a cancellation, because you don’t need four weeks to cancel; and completely unnecessary if you are persisting with scenario No. 1, which is the July 24 (start).
“So the only rational conclusion is that postponement is now on the table and the parameters of that are going to be worked out and that’s why they need the four weeks. Combine that with the fact that the Japanese prime minister is already talking in terms of postponement and the fact that 69 per cent of his constituents think the Games should be postponed, plus the fact that COVID is now really raging out of control, for me it’s a no-brainer to reach that conclusion. And I’m sure that’s the kind of thing the (World Health Organization) has told the IOC.”
Pound, who is in regular contact with IOC president Thomas Bach and members of a task force formed to respond to the COVID -19 pandemic, has no doubt the Games must be postponed because of the health risks, and hopes they can be held in 2021.
However, he does not believe it’s necessary or even prudent for the IOC to announce a postponement before arrangements have been made.
“I think that would be counterproductive, because if you’re announcing a postponement, you have to have a plan for that postponement. That doesn’t exist until you sit down with the Japanese and ask, ‘are you able to hold this together for another year? Can we get the facilities? Can we get the hotels? Can we get the Olympic Village?’ All those things for which there will have been after-Games plans already made and contracts entered into.”
There is also the matter of reworking the 2021 international summer sport schedule and hosting events crucial to the Olympic qualification process. Only 53 per cent of the expected 11,000 athletes had punched their ticket to Tokyo 2020.
“It’s not like moving a single
world championship from one place or one time to another,” continued Pound. “This involves thousands and thousands of moving parts, some of which will have to be negotiated. That’s why they need four weeks. If you announce a postponement with no plan, none of the uncertainty disappears.”
Pound was quoted by USA Today earlier Monday saying “postponement has been decided” and the Games won’t start on July 24. The IOC has not offered confirmation. Pound hopes his statements will be helpful to the IOC.
“Sometimes an outlier like me is useful, particularly when you have to deal with organizing committees and governments and other organizations around the world. I mean, sponsors know who I am, broadcasters know who I am.
“I’m not without a certain amount of credibility (at IOC headquarters), so if they start thinking about it rather than having a knee-jerk reaction, that may help Thomas and his team get the negotiations faster and better.” dbarnes@postmedia.com Twitter.com/sportsdanbarnes