Olympic chiefs expected to press ahead and draw up plans for Tokyo 2020 Games in summer 2021 despite Covid-19 concerns
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will meet tomorrow to draw up plans for the delayed Tokyo 2020 Games, despite persistent speculation of a Covid-enforced cancellation.
Wednesday’s video meeting of the IOC’s executive board is expected to focus on how it will ensure the vaccination of athletes, manage international visitors and accommodate spectators.
The Japanese government, the Tokyo organising committee, the IOC and the International Paralympic Committee all insisted last week that the Games would go ahead this summer.
That collective defiance came in response to a report in the Times stating that Japanese ministers had accepted the Games would need to be called off.
Although Japan has not been as badly affected by Covid-19 as some countries – its death toll has just passed 5,000 – cases are currently far higher than at any point last year.
Much of the country has been placed in a state of emergency, while polls suggest public opinion has turned against staging the Olympics and Paralympics this year.
If those trends continue, doubts about the viability of the Games will only grow louder and more persistent.
Euro 2020 parallels
Last March, organisers reluctantly agreed to postpone the Games for a year in an unprecedented move. Cancellation would also represent an unwanted first.
Former London 2012 bid chief Sir Keith Mills said last week he considered it “unlikely” that Tokyo would press ahead.
If the Olympics and Paralympics do take place this year, they seem likely to do so with limited numbers of spectators – if any at all.
In the event that Japan did need to cancel, it has been suggested that it would seek to host the Games in 2032 instead.
IOC president Thomas Bach, who has been bullish about Tokyo’s preparations, is set to address media on Wednesday.
Bach said on Saturday: “Six months ahead of the Games, the entire Olympic movement is looking forward to the opening ceremony on July 23.”
European football’s governing body Uefa faces a similar quandary over Euro 2020, which was also postponed last summer.
The championship is expected to start in June as planned, but with limited numbers of fans and potentially in just one country, rather than the 12 originally envisaged.
Uefa is set to make a final decision by March at the latest.