WHAT’S IN STORE FOR THE OLYMPICS?
Across the world, sporting events have come to a halt. But the biggest ticket in the year’s sporting calendar—the 2020 Tokyo Olympics—remains on schedule to begin on July 24. Is that simply optimistic posturing from the International Olympic Committee (IOC)? With athletes around the world now joining a chorus of people calling for its suspension, here’s a look at some key issues facing the Games.
What are the organisers—ioc and the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) saying?
The Games will go ahead as planned. There is a “task force” tracking developments, but IOC president Thomas Bach pointed out that the Olympics are still some time away.
“We are contrary to many other sports organizations or professional leagues in that we are four and a half months away from the Games,” Bach told New York Times (NYT). “They are even more optimistic than we are, because most of them have postponed their events until April or the end of May. We are talking about the end of July.”
But some people in the organizing committee are breaking rank.
JOC board member Kaori Yamaguchi, a former Judoka who won a bronze at the 1988 Games, called for a postponement because athletes are not being able to prepare. She plans to raise this point at a board meeting on March 27.
Bach added that “different scenarios” are being considered.
What are these scenarios?
That has not been revealed, but curiously, Bach said, that postponement or cancellation of the Games is not on the agenda.
Then what is?
Perhaps a truncated version, held behind closed doors? It’s anybody’s guess.
Does the task force have a deadline to recommend the fate of the Games?
According to Bach, no.
Who has the final call on cancelling the Games?
The IOC. They can also decide to relocate the Games.
The contract signed between the IOC and Tokyo provides that the IOC can withdraw the organisation of the Games from the host city "if the safety of the participants is seriously threatened".
Can the IOC postpone the Olympics?
Yes. The IOC entrusts the organising committee with the mission of hosting the Olympic Games in a specific year. If the postponement goes beyond that, it could lead to Japan losing the Games altogether. This can be modified with two-thirds of the votes of the IOC members. In practice, it would be more difficult to fit a rescheduled Olympics into a hectic sporting calendar. Smaller federations may be able to accommodate at short notice but bigger sports such as football, basketball and tennis may n struggle with any shift in dates. Broadcasters such as the US rights holder NBC, who have paid a substantial amount of money for the rights and have already sold over $1.25 billion of advertising, will also be distinctly unhappy about a postponement that forces them to put the Games up against other high-profile and profitable leagues such as the NBA.
This is where things get tricky. According to clauses in the contract signed between the IOC and JOC, any liabilities arising from a cancellation will be borne by the host city’s organising committee.
At last estimate, the organizers had put the cost of hosting the games at USD12.6 billion, divided between the city of Tokyo, JOC, and the central government. But Japan’s national audit board estimates that it’s closer to USD 22 billion. Japanese businesses have contributed USD 3.3 billion in sponsorships, and that’s not including the IOC’S major sponsors, of which some are Japanese giants, like Toyota and Panasonic.
The Japan Center for Economic Research estimates that the country invested between $32 billion and $41 billion in building competition venues and adding hotel capacity.
The IOC has an insurance estimated at USD 800 million for the Olympics. The Tokyo organizers also have one, but there are no estimates available. “The IOC has no cash flow problem,” Bach told NYT.
More than 11,000 athletes from more than 200 nations are expected to participate—around 4,000 of them are expected from the 15 countries most affected by Covid-19, including China, Italy, Spain, Iran, France and Germany. Note that only 57% of athletes worldwide had managed to secure qualification before all sports came to a standstill.
Close to eight million tickets were made available, most have been sold, including 4.5 million in Japan.
Since the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896, the only reason that a Games has been cancelled is because of the world wars. World War I saw the 1916
Berlin Games cancels, and World War II accounted for Sapporo (winter) and Tokyo (summer) in 1940, and Cortina d'ampezzo (winter) and London (summer) in 1944.