Pound says Games are ‘a go’ despite opposition

Will the postponed Tokyo Olympics open despite rising opposition and the pandemic?

The answer is almost certainly “yes.”

Senior International Olympic Committee member Richard Pound was emphatic in an interview with a British newspaper.

“Barring Armageddon that we can’t see or anticipate, these things are a go,” Pound told the Evening Standard.

Tokyo is under a COVID19 state of emergency, but IOC Vice President John Coates has said the Games will open July 23 — state of emergency, or no state of emergency.

So the Olympics are barreling ahead. But why?

Start with billions of dollars at stake, a contract that overwhelmingly favors the IOC, and a decision by the Japanese government to stay the course, which might help Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga keep his job.

These factors have overridden scathing criticism from medical bodies that fear the Olympics might spread coronavirus variants, and a call for cancellation from Asahi Shimbun, a Games’ sponsor and the country’s secondlargestselling newspaper. The United States Department of State has issued a Level4 “Do not travel” warning for Japan with Tokyo and other areas under a state of emergency that expires June 20.

And there’s saving face. Japan officially has spent $15.4 billion on the Olympics, but several government audits suggest it’s much more. Geopolitical rival China is to hold the 2022 Winter Olympics just six months after the Tokyo Games end, and could claim center stage should Tokyo fail.