IOC looking to postpone Tokyo Olympics
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will look at postponing the Tokyo Olympics during four weeks of talks amid mounting criticism by athletes and sports officials during the coronavirus pandemic.
Consultation with Japanese public authorities, global sports officials, broadcasters and sponsors will deal with “scenario planning” for the July 24Aug 9 games, the International Olympic Committee said.
This includes “the scenario of postponement,” the IOC said in a statement, adding “Cancellation is not on the agenda.”
“These scenarios relate to modifying existing operational plans for the games to go ahead on July 24, 2020, and also for changes to the start date of the games.” the Olympic body said.
The change in strategy followed IOC president Thomas Bach leading a conference call with executive board members.
ALTERNATE PLAN
Bach has consistently said organisers are fully committed to opening the games on July 24 – despite athlete training, qualifying events and games preparations being disrupted more and more by the virus outbreak causing the COVID-19 disease.
Criticism of the stance grew in recent days from Olympic gold medallists and by an IOC member last Tuesday, before Bach finally acknowledged an alternate plan was possible.
“Of course we are considering different scenarios,” Bach told the New York Times in an interview late last Thursday.
National Olympic committees in Brazil and Slovenia later called for a postponement to 2021. Norway’s Olympic body said it did not want athletes going to Tokyo until the global health crisis is under control.
The United States governing bodies of swimming and track – two of the three top-tier Summer Games sports – have called on their national Olympic officials to push for a postponement.
“There is a dramatic increase in cases and new outbreaks of COVID19 in different countries on different continents,” the IOC said. “This led the (board) to the conclusion that the IOC needs to take the next step in its scenario planning.”
“The (board) emphasised that a cancellation … would not solve any of the problems or help anybody.”
In a separate statement, Bach addressed athletes who wish to compete at the Tokyo Olympics. Of the 11,000 athlete places available in 33 sports, around 4,700 have yet to be allocated.
“Human lives take precedence over everything, including the staging of the games,” Bach wrote. “The IOC wants to be part of the solution.”