Over the past month, several athletes have asked for clarity over The Games' future, some have even called for its cancellation.
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The Tokyo Olympics Games will go on as planned despite the host city, Tokyo, being under a state of emergency due to the coronavirus pandemic as per the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Japan has struggled to contain the spread of the virus and Tokyo is one of nine prefectures to be under a state of emergency. The chair of the IOC’s coordination commission, John Coates however said that the restrictive measures would not affect the Olympics. Over the past month, several athletes have asked for clarity over The Games’ future, some have even called for its cancellation in the current climate. However, the IOC seems determined to host The Games in 2021.
“We’ve successfully seen five sports hold their test events during the state of emergency,” Coates said at a press briefing on Friday.
“All of the plans that we have in place to protect the safety and security of athletes and the people of Japan are based around the worst possible circumstances, so the answer (to whether a Games could take place during a state of emergency) is absolutely yes,” he added.
Coates also said that the IOC had received word from the World Health Organization (WHO) that all the safety measures proposed were satisfactory to ensure a smooth and safe Olympics.
“The advice we have got from the World Health Organisation and all of the scientific advice is that all the measures we have outlined in the playbook, all those measures are satisfactory to ensure a safe and secure Games in terms of health, and that’s whether there is a state of emergency or not,” he said.
When asked about the overwhelmingly negative response to the Tokyo Olympics by Japanese nationals, Coates said that public opinion would tip in their favor as the number of vaccinations increases.
“There may well be a correlation between some of these percentages and the low percentages so far of people in Japan who have been vaccinated,” he said.
“I’m expecting that as the number of vaccinations increases that there will be better polls and public opinion will improve, but if it doesn’t we just have to make sure that we get on with our job and our job is to make sure these Games are safe for all participants and all of the people of Japan,” he concluded.
