3 months window to decide on Tokyo: IOC member
TOKYO: Dick Pound, the longestserving member of the IOC, estimates there’s a three-month window to decide the fate of the Tokyo Olympics, which are being threatened by the fastspreading virus from China.
Pound, in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, did not sound alarmist. But he did speak frankly about the risks facing the Olympics, which open July 24. Pound has been an International Olympic Committee member since 1978, 13 years longer than current President Thomas Bach.
“You could certainly go to two months out if you had to,” Pound said, which would mean putting off a decision until late May and hoping the virus is under control. “A lot of things have to start happening. You’ve got to start ramping up your security, your food, the Olympic Village, the hotels, The media folks will be in there building their studios.”
And if it got to the point of not going ahead, Pound speculated “you’re probably looking at a cancellation.” “This is the new war and you have to face it. In and around that time, I’d say folks are going to have to ask: ‘Is this under sufficient control that we can be confident about going to Tokyo, or not?’”
China on Tuesday reported 508 new cases and another 71 deaths, 68 of them in Wuhan, where the epidemic was first detected in December. South Korea now has the second-most cases in the world with 1000. Clusters of the illness are now appearing in the Middle East and Europe. This could signal a new stage in spread of the virus with four deaths reported in Japan.
JAPAN SUSPENDS FOOTBALL LEAGUE
TOKYO: Japan suspended its football league on Tuesday, making it the latest sporting victim of the deadly coronavirus with just five months to go before the Olympics. All J-league and cup games were postponed until midmarch as Japan joined China and South Korea in putting domestic football on hold in a bid to stem the outbreak.
TTFI POSTPONES WORLD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIPS
SEOUL: Table tennis’s world team championships, due to take place next month in the South Korean city of Busan, were postponed on Tuesday following a leap in novel coronavirus cases.
The International Table Tennis Federation said the event, originally planned for March 22-29, had been provisionally rescheduled for June 21-28 following an emergency meeting with local organisers. South Korea’s K-league had already postponed the start of the new season on Monday as the virus causes chaos in the country.