Tokyo 2020 the ‘cursed Olympics’

FIRST, the cancellation in 1940. Then, the mass boycott in Moscow in 1980.

Forty years on, the upcoming Tokyo Games are the “cursed Olympics” once again, Japan’s finance minister said, in remarks that could stir controversy at a time when his government is scrambling to quash speculation that the coronavirus epidemic could derail the world’s biggest sporting event this year.

“It’s a problem that’s happened every 40 years – it’s the cursed Olympics – and that’s a fact,”Taro Aso, who also serves as deputy prime minister, said in a parliamentary committee yeserday.

Japan had won the bid to host the Summer and Winter Olympics in 1940 – in Tokyo and Sapporo, respectively – but both Games were cancelled due to the Second World War.

A close ally of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and a former premier himself, Aso is known for his staying power despite his penchant for gaffes that have insulted people, including doctors, women and Alzheimer’s patients, over the decades.

Abe has staked his legacy as the longest-serving Japanese leader on staging a successful Games and bringing a massive jolt – estimated at US$2.3 billion (RM9.9b) – to the stagnant economy with tourism and consumer spending.

But every passing day of the new coronavirus pandemic has brought more calls for a rethink of this year’s Games, scheduled to open on July 24.

The International Olympic Committee, along with Tokyo’s organising committee and Japanese government, has said it is not considering a cancellation or postponement, even as other major events have been postponed, including Euro 2020 and Copa America.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said yesterday that beating the coronavirus is essential to host a safe and secure Tokyo Olympics, but that it was still too early to discuss the timing of a decision on whether the Games should go ahead as scheduled.

Koike said that she’s currently not thinking about cancelling the Olympics or holding them without spectators, two options that have been raised, and added that she’s in close contact with the International Olympic Committee and central government about the situation. – AFP/Reuters