Not considering cancelling Olympics: Tokyo OC chief
TOKYO : Tokyo 2020 Olympics organising committee president Yoshiro Mori on Wednesday dismissed speculation that the Games might be cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak.
“I am totally not considering this,” Mori told reporters at a briefing when asked about a possible cancellation.
Asked when the organisers could decide on changes to the Olympics, he said: “I’m not God so I don’t know.”
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board on Tuesday expressed its full commitment to the success of the Olympic Games in Tokyo to be held between July 24 to August 9 this year.
The IOC board heard a report on all the measures taken so far to address the coronavirus situation, which was followed by a comprehensive discussion, a statement on IOC’s official website read.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams while addressing a press conference in Lausanne, Switzerland said that it sees “no reason” to think anything other than the Games will be going ahead as planned.
“We’re not even worrying, thinking about that (relocation), because we’re planning to have the games on the 24th of July,” said Mark Adams
It appreciates and supports the measures being taken, which constitute an important part of Tokyo’s plans to host safe and secure Games, the statement read. Japan’s Olympic Minister had on Tuesday said that the agreement that the host city has with the IOC could be interpreted as having a provision for holding the Games in a later month within 2020.
GOVERNMENT ADVISES NSFS TO EXERCISE CAUTION, SAYS ATHLETES’ HEALTH COMES FIRST
NEW DELHI: The government on Wednesday said the health of athletes must take precedence as it advised the National Sports Federations (NSFs) to exercise caution while planning foreign competitions and training stints in view of the coronavirus outbreak.
The novel coronavirus has so far claimed over 3,000 lives and infected more than 94000 people across the world after being first detected in Wuhan, China.
In an advisory issued by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) to all the NSFs, it said the athletes’ health comes first.
“... In light of the outbreak of the Coronoavirus in several countries, including some reported cases in India, the Government has advised all National Sports Federations to exercise caution while planning foreign competitions and training for teams and individual athletes,” the SAI said in the advisory.
The extraordinary situation has forced either cancellation or postponement of many sporting events across the world in the Olympic year and the SAI said while it understands the importance of the year, it also wants the federations to follow the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines. The SAI added, “While the government understands the criticality of ranking tournaments and Olympic qualifiers, you would understand that the health of our athletes takes precedence. Therefore, we would like to request the NSFs to adhere by the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.
“The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had issued its own health advisory on the Coronavirus on 19th February.” While India is scheduled to host a shooting World Cup from March 15, a FIBA 3x3 basketball Olympic qualifying tournament was on Wednesday postponed owing to the deadly disease that has affected many countries.
NAPOLI V INTER ITALIAN CUP SEMI-FINAL POSTPONED OVER VIRUS FEARS
MILAN:Napoli’s Italian Cup semifinal second leg against Inter Milan scheduled for Thursday has been postponed as the coronavirus epidemic continues to hit the country.
The Italian league said the game would be played at an unknown date in the future.
“The president of Lega Serie A announces that this match has been postponed to an undetermined date in the future,” Serie A said in a statement.
Serie A added that it had acted in accordance with an order from the Prefect of Naples calling for the game to be delayed.
Napoli lead the semi-final 1-0 after the first leg.
Inter Milan’s clash against league title rivals Juventus last weekend was also postponed.