TOKYO GAMES FACE SKEPTICS AS CITY POSTS SINGLE-DAY VIRUS INFECTION RECORD
TOKYO—THE spokesperson for the Tokyo Olympics expects the postponed games to go ahead in 2021 despite a recent poll in Japan in which 77 percent of respondents said they did not believe the games could be held next year.
The poll by the Japan News Network said only 17 percent thought it could be held next year in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
Masa Takaya, the spokesperson, was speaking on Thursday on remote hookup on a day of contentious news for the Tokyo Olympics.
Tokyo’s city government reported a single-day record of 224 new coronavirus infections on Thursday, surpassing a high of 204 in April. Though low by many standards, it marks a steady increase over the last week in the Japanese capital.
Japan has recorded about 1,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19.
Takaya said the way the polls are constructed “may result in very different messages.” He said Tokyo’s only plan was to open the games on July 23, 2021.
Also, Takaya did not flatly deny a leaked report in almost all Japanese media that said organizers were on track to secure all venues for next year’s Olympics.
“Tokyo 2020 is aware of these media reports,” Takaya said. “I need to be very clear that this is not something that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government or the organizing committee has made a formal announcement on.”
Details of any progress are sure to be presented next week at scheduled meetings of the Swiss-based International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Organizers had previously said that 80 percent of the venues had been secured. Few expect local venue owners to defy the Japanese government, or the IOC, particularly if there are incentives in the new contracts.
Estimates in Japan put the cost of delay at $2 billion to $6 billion. The IOC and local organizers have not given any estimate.
A poll published last month by Japanese news agency Kyodo and a Tokyo television outlet found that 51.7 percent did not think the games should be held next year. But 46 percent wanted to see the rescheduled Olympics go forward.
Among those opposed, 27.7 percent said they should be canceled altogether, and 24 percent said they should be postponed again because of COVID-19.