Not afraid to die says Pacquiao
India’s table tennis star Kamal says Japan cannot guarantee the safety of 17,000 athletes living together in Tokyo’s Olympic Village
FROM BACK PAGE kits and 700,000 face masks for his fellow Filipinos. He said: “If you are a leader, you have to lead and let the people see that you are with them.
“You must not hide because you are afraid.
“I grew up poor so I know what they feel.”
Pacquiao, who has not fought since beating Keith Thurman to win the WBA Super welterweight title in Las Vegas last July, has been in talks to return to the ring this summer.
But he claims his return is now on hold while the coronavirus ravages the entire world. “This is the first thing we need to pay attention to,” he said.
Pacquiao claims the Filipino authorities must feed the people living on the streets or they may be reduced to looting.
“That’s chaos and that’s what I fear could happen,” he warned.
Pacquiao has also donated five buses to the government to transport health workers around the capital, Manila.
IT IS the nightmare scenario Tokyo 2020 organisers dare not contemplate – and for which they can offer no guarantees.
“The epicentre of the virus will keep changing – first it was China, now it is Italy, and Iran, too, is badly affected.
“I don’t see the scenario being safe for the Olympics to start on time.
“Everyone is talking about social distancing but it is one thing which won’t be possible at the Olympics – thousands of athletes would be staying in the same village.”
With around training facilities the world under lockdown to arrest the alarming spread of Covid-19 the pandemic has brought sport to a halt almost worldwide. Borders are sealed, and with more than 13,000 people already killed by the bug since it surfaced in China three months ago, calls from athletes and national federations to defer Tokyo 2020 have intensified over the last 48 hours. Serbia and Croatia joined the growing chorus opposing the International Olympic
Committee’s plans to proceed on schedule.
Vanja Udovicic (below), president of Serbia’s Olympic body, warned: “Japan has invested a lot of resources into the Olympics and they are adamant the Games should go ahead, but that defies common sense. We can’t support it because human lives come first.”
His Croatian counterpart, Zlatko Matesa warned there was no chance of the Olympics starting on time under current circumstances.
He said: “No one wants the Games postponed but I think we’re close to such a scenario as it seems to be the only option.
“Sport has come to a halt in all of Europe and no one knows when it will resume.
“Sport isn’t an issue now as competing has become impossible. I believe it’s impossible for the Games to go ahead as scheduled and in my opinion they should and will be postponed for a few months. It won’t be a dramatic delay.”
UK Athletics, USA Track and Field, USA Swimming, the Brazilian Olympic Committee, and French Swimming Federation urged the IOC to order a postponement. Many athletes unable to train or compete back the idea as qualifying events have been scrapped. the
I don’t see the scenario being safe for the Games to start
It defies common sense for the Games to go ahead