Tokyo 2020 Olympics which is already postponed to 2021 will be cancelled if the pandemic caused due to coronavirus, isn’t brought under control by next year. The organising committee’s president said this on Tuesday.
The novel coronavirus outbreak has already forced a year-long delay of the Olympics, which are now scheduled to open on July 23, 2021. Tokyo 2020 President Yoshiro Mori said no further delay was possible.
In an interview with Japan’s Nikkan Sports, Mori was uncompromising when asked if the Olympics could be delayed until 2022 if the pandemic remains a peril next year, replying, “No. In that case, it’s cancelled,” Mori stated.
Mori said the Olympics Games had been cancelled previously only during war and linked the combat against coronavirus to “fighting an invisible enemy”.
If the virus is successfully controlled, “We’ll hold the Olympics in peace next summer. Mankind is betting on it,” he added.
Under heavy burden from athletes as well as sports associations, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and organisers in Japan agreed in March to a year-long postponement of the Games.
Organisers have said the overdue Olympics would be an opportunity to showcase the world’s victory over the coronavirus, but queries have risen about whether even a year’s postponement is adequate.
Recently, a Japanese medical expert who has disapproved the country’s reply to the coronavirus cautioned that he was ‘very pessimistic’ that the postponed Olympics can be held in 2021.
WORLD OF SPORTS STANDSTILL
Several sporting events around the world have been halted due to the novel coronavirus outbreak. Events in cricket, football, tennis, basketball, golf, formula1 and number of other sports are at a standstill. The much-loved cricket league in the world, Indian Premier League (IPL), is suspended till the further notice. Even Wimbledon 2020 will not be staged behind closed doors. It is the first time the event has been called off since the Second World War.
