Amid cancellation talk, Tokyo Olympics focused on hosting - Sports castanet.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from castanet.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Sir Keith Mills, the CEO of the 2012 Olympics in London, told BBC s Radio 5 on Tuesday that he believed Tokyo organizers should be making cancellation plans. Personally, sitting here looking at the pandemic around the world, it looks unlikely I have to say, Mills said. He noted that organizers had about a month left before needing to make a definite call.
Reuters reports that Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Friday that he was determined to make the Tokyo Olympics happen. The report did not, however, specify if Suga specified this year or at a future date. 2032 is the next open year for a Summer Olympics.
Tokyo Games can be ‘light at the end of the tunnel’, says IOC chief Thomas Bach
Thomas Bach is confident the Games will go ahead (Mike Egerton/PA)
International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach believes the Tokyo 2020 Games will provide the “light at the end of the tunnel” amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Bach also insisted the event has the “full support” of Japanese officials after a report in the Times claimed the country’s government has “privately concluded” that the Olympics and Paralympics will have to be called off due to rising coronavirus rates.
In a video message published by the IOC on Friday night, Bach said: “Six months ahead of the Games, the entire Olympic movement is looking forward to the opening ceremony on July 23.
play-icon
Video report for ITV News Correspondent Neil Connery
The International Olympic Committee has denied claims the Tokyo 2020 Games are being cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The 2020 Olympic Games have already been delayed once, with the opening ceremony currently scheduled for 23 July this year in Japan.
The IOC issued a statement in which it referenced the response of the Japanese government in describing the report as categorically untrue , before adding: The IOC is fully concentrated on and committed to the successful delivery of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 this year.
The International Paralympic Committee went further, however, saying that a series of counter-measures, including the roll-out of vaccines, have put it in a much stronger position than 10 months ago to stage a successful Games.
Jan 22, 2021
In this Nov. 16 file photo, Thomas Bach, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President, speaks during the joint press conference between IOC and Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020) in Tokyo, Japan. The International Olympic Committee is pushing back against reports that the postponed Tokyo Olympics will be canceled and will not open on July 23. The Tokyo Games were postponed 10 months ago at the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, and now their future appears threatened again. (Du Xiaoyi/Pool Photo via AP, File)
TOKYO (AP) IOC President Thomas Bach and local organizers are pushing back against reports that the postponed Tokyo Olympics will be canceled.