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Olympics 2021: Japan determined to hold Tokyo Games organizers say despite cancellation rumors

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On Friday, the Times of London, citing an unnamed senior member of the ruling coalition, reported that Japanese authorities had privately concluded that the Olympics could not proceed due to the ongoing pandemic. CNN has not independently verified this report, which officials in Tokyo were quick to refute.

In a statement, the Tokyo 2020 organizers said that Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga had expressed to them his determination to hold the Games, and that meetings were ongoing to ensure that they could go ahead while implementing thorough infection countermeasures and other precautions due to the pandemic.

“All our delivery partners including the national government, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, the IOC and the IPC are fully focused on hosting the Games this summer,” the statement said. “We hope that daily life can return to normal as soon as possible, and we will continue to make every effort to prepare for a safe and secure Games.”

Speaking in parliament Friday morning, Suga said the Games “will be a symbol of humanity overcoming the novel coronavirus, and a chance to showcase Japan’s reconstruction from the devastating (2011) earthquake and tsunami to the world.”

“We are determined to work closely together with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, and the IOC to realize a safe and secure Olympics,” Suga said.

Other Olympic officials were also quick to deny the claims made by the Times.

“Unfortunately, I need to address unfounded rumors that Tokyo Games will be canceled, rumors that only create more anxiety for the athletes in our sports,” Australian Olympic Committee CEO Matt Carroll told reporters Friday. “The Tokyo Games are on. The flames will be lit on the 23rd of July 2021. This has been just reconfirmed again by the Japanese Prime Minister this afternoon.”

In a thread on Twitter, Canadian Olympic chief David Shoemaker said his team was “unaware of any decision taken by the Japanese government as is being reported.”

“The Canadian Olympic Committee has confidence that the Games can be staged safely and successfully given what has been learned in sport over the last several months and the emphasis the IOC and Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee have placed on Covid-19 countermeasures,” he said. “We continue in our preparation to participate at Tokyo 2020 with a focus on the health and safety of our athletes, their families, and their communities.”

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2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics Reportedly in Doubt Because of COVID-19 Concerns | Bleacher Report

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Hiro Komae/Associated Press

The Japanese government has “privately concluded” that the 2021 Olympic Games will have to be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report from Richard Lloyd Parry of The Times. 

“No one wants to be the first to say so but the consensus is that it’s too difficult,” a source told Lloyd Parry. “Personally, I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

Japan is now reportedly trying to find a “face-saving way of announcing the cancellation that leaves open the possibility of Tokyo playing host at a later date.”

Publicly and officially, both the International Olympic Committee and Japanese Olympic organizers have been resolute in the assertion that the Games will happen, per the Associated Press. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga called holding the 2021 games “proof of human victory against the coronavirus.”

But IOC senior member Dick Pound said he “can’t be certain” the Games will take place because “the ongoing elephant in the room would be the surges in the virus.” Japanese minister Taro Kono, a member of Suga’s cabinet, added that “anything is possible” and attempts to hold the Games “could go either way.”

Keith Mills, deputy chair of the organizing committee for the 2012 Olympics in London, told the BBC Tuesday (h/t the AP) that he believes cancellation plans have likely already been concocted. 

“But I think they’ll leave it until absolutely the last minute in case the situation improves dramatically, in case the vaccinations roll out faster than we all hope,” he said. “It’s a tough call, I wouldn’t like to be in their shoes.”

IOC President Thomas Bach looked to quell some of the talk that the Games could be canceled. 

“We have, at this moment, no reason whatsoever to believe that the Olympic Games in Tokyo will not open on the 23rd of July in the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo,” he told the Kyodo News (h/t Victor Mather of the New York Times). “There is no Plan B.”

He added that Beijing’s Winter Olympics in 2022 were still on track to take place as scheduled. 

The Tokyo Games were originally scheduled for the summer of 2020 but postponed due to the coronavirus. With uncertainties regarding the state of the pandemic come July and question marks regarding the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine, this year’s event remains up in the air. 

If the Summer Olympics are canceled, it would be for the first time since World War II and could cost the IOC over $1 billion in television revenue, per Mather. The IOC is a non-profit organization, but “90 percent of the revenues from the Games go straight back into sport and athlete development.”



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