A YEAR’S DELAY THE ONLY WAY
Fate of 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games is already sealed
IT now appears a question of when, not if, Tokyo 2020 will be officially postponed.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) bought themselves some time over the weekend by announcing a four-week deadline to decide the fate of the Tokyo Games which are due to begin on July 24 - just 122 days away.
Amid the global coronavirus pandemic, the IOC have been bullish in recent months about the Olympics going ahead as planned in the summer despite mass suspensions and cancellations of sporting events.
But after an emergency board meeting via conference call on Sunday, the IOC for the first time announced they were considering making ‘changes to the start date’ of July 24.
Still, the blunt refusal to call off the Olympics in this current climate has led to an angry backlash from athletes and sporting associations across the globe.
Canada announced they would boycott the Olympics if they are held at any point in 2020 and Australia told their athletes to prepare for them to take place next summer. UK Athletics, its US counterpart, and several national Olympic governing bodies have urged the IOC in recent days to delay the Games.
Yesterday, the Olympic Federation of Ireland did not go as far to say that they would boycott the Games, but they retained the view that the global showpiece would be postponed.
And it appeared that a rescheduling of the Games, most likely in 2021, was all but confirmed yesterday with International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound telling USA Today: ‘On the basis of the information the IOC has, postponement has been decided. The parameters going forward have not been determined, but the Games are not going to start on July 24, that much I know. It will come in stages.
‘We will postpone this and begin to deal with all the ramifications of moving this, which are immense.’
Pound’s comments came after Peter Sherrard, Olympic Federation of Ireland CEO, said that Japan 2020 was highly unlikely to get the green light.
‘Our view at the moment is that the games are likely to be postponed,’ he told RTÉ’s ‘Morning Ireland’.
‘We certainly welcome that the IOC has already stated that they will put athlete safety first and have opened the possibility that the games can be postponed and they’ve given themselves a fourweek window to do this.
‘To a lot of people on the outside, four weeks seems like an inordinately long period of time. But there’s huge complexity around this. There are 33 sports involved, there are about 11,000 athletes from 206 countries. There are media organisations from all over the world who have made serious plans. There’s the Tokyo dynamic, the Japan aspect as well. It’s a huge piece for them to get right and they do need a bit of time. I am comfortable with the fact that they’ve said that whatever decision they reach, athlete safety will be first. They’re not going to do anything that will jeopardise the health and safety of our athletes.’
In a statement, OFI President Sarah Keane added: ‘We have heard the latest update from the IOC regarding the Games, and we await in due course further information from them.
‘However, we need to consider what’s right for our athletes, coaches, federations and all involved in supporting the system in Ireland at this time. This does include considering if our potential Olympians can and/or should continue to engage in organised training for the foreseeable future.
‘This may go against the grain of what they are used to doing day in day out, however at this time all options must be considered which we will do in conjunction with our Member Federations, athletes, Sport Ireland and other stakeholders.
‘We can and are providing input into the IOC as the ultimate decision-making body for the 2020 Olympic Games. However, we can make decisions in Ireland for the best of Team Ireland and all involved.’
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday admitted for the first time that the Olympics could be postponed. He said: ‘If I’m asked whether we can hold the Olympics at this point in time, I would have to say that the world is not in such a situation.
‘I want the Tokyo Games to be held in a complete form where all the countries can attend. If we cannot hold it in a complete way, I think I have no choice but to postpone it, giving top priority on athletes. However, the Tokyo organising committee are reluctant to postpone the Olympics past 2020. Their president Yoshiro Mori said: ‘We are Tokyo 2020 so that is the direction for now.
‘What we are going to do before anything else is to start by simulating about whether we postpone one month, three months, five months, one year. We need to make a simulation about the various scenarios.’
‘Tokyo 2020 organisers said in a statement: ‘Tokyo 2020 held an urgent video conference with IOC president Bach during which we agreed to proceed with detailed discussions of different scenarios, including postponement of the Games.
‘As we closely monitor infection trends, we will dedicate ourselves to examining detailed plans for different scenarios, including opening the Games on 24 July.’
In truth, the fate of the 2020 Olympics looks all but sealed.
“Games are not
going to start on July 24”