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Well totally agreed by the suggestions given that there is not much point to discuss about the cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics now. Anyway there is still no confirmation from IOC yet. Just need to wait till July and then the truth will be revealed by then. 

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Demonstrators protest against the Olympics in Tokyo on May 17.

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https://edition.cnn.com/2021/05/19/sport/tokyo-olympics-possible-cancellation-spt-intl/index.html

 

 

(CNN)With a little over two months until the start of the Tokyo Olympics, the possibility of a cancellation looms large over the Games.

 

As Japan battles a fourth wave of coronavirus infections and a state of emergency in Tokyo and other prefectures remains in place until the end of the month, there is mounting pressure from health experts, business leaders and the Japanese public to call off the Games.

 

Last week, the Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association, an organization of about 6,000 doctors in Tokyo, penned a letter calling for a cancellation, while a petition which garnered 350,000 signatures in nine days in support of a cancellation has been submitted to organizers.

 

Also last week, the CEO of leading Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten said that holding the Games amid the pandemic amounts to a "suicide mission" -- among the strongest opposition so far voiced by a business leader.

 

However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has remained adamant that the Olympics, already postponed by a year amid the pandemic, will be able to get underway on July 23.

 

Organizers have released a playbook, the final version of which is expected next month, outlining a series of countermeasures that they say will ensure the Games can take place in a safe and secure way, even as thousands of athletes from around the world descend on Tokyo.

 

With the Winter Olympics in Beijing now less than a year away, officials have also said that the Games won't be postponed again and that a cancellation would be the likeliest option if it's deemed unsafe to hold the Games from the rescheduled start date in July.

 

How would a cancellation come about?

 

In the host city contract which outlines the legal agreement between the IOC and Tokyo to hosting the Games, the IOC is entitled to terminate the contract on the grounds that "the safety of participants in the Games would be seriously threatened or jeopardized for any reason whatsoever."

 

According to legal expert Jack Anderson, it's likely to be growing pressure on the organizers that forces a cancellation -- a "political decision," rather than a strictly legal one.

 

"It's the safety of those athletes, which are a primary concern of the IOC, the safety of the Japanese public, the primary concern of the organizing committee and the Japanese political establishment, which is the key," Anderson, a professor of Law teaching at Melbourne Law School in Australia, tells CNN Sport.

 

"And this is not an ordinary one-off event. It is obviously a huge multidisciplinary event across many different stadia."

 

Anderson adds that a termination of the host city contract would see the risks and losses fall largely with the organizing committee, which is mandated to take out insurance for the Games.

 

"In that way, it's straightforward," he says. "But of course, in other ways it's not straightforward because it's not simply a contract between the International Olympic Committee and the host organizing.

 

"We have sponsorship contracts, we have broadcasting, we have hospitality, we have a range -- a contractual web of liabilities -- that are in place here. It's a huge contractual issue and would have huge insurance ramifications if it were to not go ahead."

 

According to a Reuters report from January, insurers are facing a $2-3 billion loss if the Olympics are canceled, amounting to the largest ever claim in the global event cancellation market.

 

And for organizers, the financial impact of canceling the Games, even with insurance payouts, could be considerable given that close to 75% of the IOC's total funding comes from broadcasting rights.

 

"The International Olympic Committee -- while it is now a very rich organization -- its wealth is predicated on its primary asset, which is hosting the Games," Anderson explains.

"Therefore, not to have a Games, and the knock-on effect that that has for sponsorship, for broadcasting, would be huge. It would be difficult to measure that.

 

But I think you could comfortably say that insurance alone would not cover it in terms of reputation and economic damage."

 

What about the athletes?

 

Arguably, it would be the athletes who miss out most from a canceled Olympics.

 

Speaking to CNN Sport last week, World Athletics president Seb Coe said that 70% of those chasing Olympic participation are only going to have one chance to compete at what is likely to be the pinnacle of their sporting careers.

 

To cancel the Games, Coe said, would be to "discard a generation of athletes who have spent over half their young lives in pursuit of this one moment."

 

The other issue when it comes to athletes is that countries around the world are at different stages of pandemic recovery and have varying access to vaccines, although Coe said he thinks "the bulk of the world will be at the Games."

 

With public pressure to cancel the Games mounting, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said last week that he has "never put (the) Olympics" as a priority.

 

"My priority has been to protect the lives and health of the Japanese population. We must first prevent the spread of the virus," he said.

 

The Olympics have been canceled on three previous occasions: in 1916, 1940 and 1944, each time because of world wars.

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https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/tokyo-doctors-call-cancellation-olympic-games-due-covid-19-2021-05-18/

Tokyo doctors call for cancellation of Olympic Games due to COVID-19

A top medical organisation has thrown its weight behind calls to cancel the Tokyo Olympics saying hospitals are already overwhelmed as the country battles a spike in coronavirus infections less than three months from the start of the Games.

 

The Tokyo Medical Practitioners Association representing about 6,000 primary care doctors said hospitals in the Games host city "have their hands full and have almost no spare capacity" amid a surge in infections.

 

"We strongly request that the authorities convince the IOC (International Olympic Committee) that holding the Olympics is difficult and obtain its decision to cancel the Games," the association said in a May 14 open letter to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga which was posted to its website on Monday.

 

A jump in infections has stoked alarm amid a shortage of medical staff and hospital beds in some areas of the Japanese capital, promoting the government to extend a third state of emergency in Tokyo and several other prefectures until May 31.

 

Doctors would soon face the added difficulty of dealing with heat exhaustion patients during the summer months and if the Olympics contributed to a rise in deaths "Japan will bear the maximum responsibility", it added.

 

Other health experts and medical groups have voiced their concerns about the Olympics, while an online petition calling for the Games to be cancelled was signed by hundreds of thousands of people.

 

Overall, Japan has avoided an explosive spread of the virus experienced by other nations, but the government has come under sharp criticism for its sluggish vaccination roll-out.

 

Only about 3.5% of its population of about 126 million has been vaccinated, according to a Reuters tracker.

Underscoring the challenges with the vaccinations, booking systems for mass inoculation sites being launched in Tokyo and Osaka - which started accepting bookings on Monday - were marred by technical glitches.

 

Still, Suga says Japan can host "a safe and secure Olympics" while following appropriate COVID-19 containment measures.

Preparations for the July 23-Aug. 8 Games are progressing under tight COVID-19 protocols, such as an athletics test event featuring 420 athletes in early May.

 

But multiple pre-Olympic training camps, including one for the United States' track and field team have been cancelled, and athletes have voiced concerns about the Games taking place in the midst of a global pandemic.

 

Canadian equastrian athlete and gold medalist Eric Lamaze announced on Monday that he had pulled out of being an Olympic candidate, citing personal health concerns. He has been treated for a brain tumor over the past three years.

 

"My health is something that I take very seriously, and I've decided that Tokyo is not the best venue for me," Lamaze said in the statement.

 

"The Olympics are a celebration of the athletes and I don't think we're going to have a true celebration in Tokyo," he added. "It's not the time to celebrate."

 

The Games have already been postponed once due to the pandemic.

 

With cases surging across much of Asia, the World Economic Forum on Monday cancelled its annual meeting of the global elite due to be held in Singapore in August.

 

Under the state of emergency in parts of Japan, bars, restaurants, karaoke parlours and other places serving alcohol will remain closed, although large commercial facilities can re-open under shorter hours. Hard-hit Tokyo and Osaka will continue to keep these larger facilities closed.

 

The number of COVID-19 cases nationwide dropped to 3,680 on Monday, the lowest level since April 26, according to public broadcaster NHK, but the number of heavy infections hit a record high of 1,235, the health ministry said on Tuesday.

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Alright we have so many sports events cancelled due to the covid or virus. Now everything seems to be hanging in the air with nothing said. Even IOC themselves also dare not confirm this. Will the Tokyo Olympics be cancelled? I think by now the answer is already too obvious. There is no way out of it. Cases are soaring very high in all the various different countries around the whole world. I guess IOC may be left with no other options but to cancel Tokyo Olympics.

 

 

Question here is simple.

 

Athletes life is more important or participating in Tokyo Olympics is more important?

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9 hours ago, George_D said:

could the Olympics be held with no spectators?

This is a good question. Somehow it is too costly to hold Olympics with totally no spectators.

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1 minute ago, De_Gambassi said:

Don't know how posting articles from weeks or months ago is of any help ?...

 

Anyway, for the games to be cancelled, someone must have an interest to cancel them. The IOC, the organizing committee, the Japanese state, the world of sport at large, TV they all need the game to happen whatever the difficulties might be.

It's gonna be ugly, it will be very unfair for many athletes (see boxers as an early example), but Tokyo 2020 will happen.

I understand your point of view. Well said. Somehow we will have to wait for IOC to come up with a wise decision.

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https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/jan/22/tokyo-olympics-covid-putting-real-pressure-on-japan-says-australia-pm-amid-cancellation-rumours

 

Excerpt from the article

 

 

Sources at the International Olympic Committee have also told the Guardian that they are still planning for a “full Games” in July, despite the spiralling number of Covid-19 cases in Japan and across the globe. They also dismissed a Times report that said that government officials had resigned themselves to cancelling the Olympics and were instead hoping a wave of sympathy would help Tokyo secure the 2032 Games.

“No one wants to be the first to say so but the consensus is that it’s too difficult,” the Times quoted an unnamed senior member of Japan’s ruling coalition as saying. “Personally, I don’t think it’s going to happen.”

 

The source added: “[The prime minister Yoshihide] Suga is not emotionally invested in the Games. But they want to show that they are ready to go, so that they will get another chance in 11 years. In these circumstances, no one could really object to that.”

 

However, doubts still remain about whether the Olympics and Paralympics, which are expected to have 15,000 participants, can go ahead given the rising number of coronavirus cases in Tokyo.

 

However Bach’s optimism was criticised as “ignoring reality” by the leading sports marketer Robert Maes, whose experience after working with 30 national Olympic committees and five global sponsors made him deeply sceptical.

 

“I cannot see how the Olympics can be held in the current climate,” he said. “In Japan, we have an explosive rise of the virus cases and the seriousness of them and because of the lack of tests the true numbers are surely underreported. A vast majority of the public is saying they don’t want the Olympics. Test events need to be cancelled. Many of the people I speak to are increasingly sceptical. They won’t say that publicly but it’s true.

 

“There is also total silence here from all the sponsors. No activation, no servicing, because if they come out to be visible in support, they might get a huge backlash if it all goes wrong in July.”

 

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3 minutes ago, dharang said:

Common sense would say just let it go (that is, cancel it).
But in one hand, big time political and business interests are in play, both by the IOC, the JP government, the big TV networks, and so on.
On the other hand, it might be devastating for the athletes, some of whom might not be able to participate in the next Olympics (2024) or they will not be in a form needed for a medal or top-6 finish. The large scale boycotts of 1980 and 1984 have a lot of these personal stories.

Of course it is different to miss the OG for a once-in-a-century pandemic and a political decision.

My money is either on an Olympics with no spectators, or a cancellation in the last possible minute (say late March or so), after every alternative approach is exhausted or discarded as not viable (IOC and local organizers will deny the cancellation as long as possible, the same way they denied the postponement last year)

Totally agreed with what you have said. 

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https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/01/24/national/tokyo-olympics-cancel-delay-survey/

 

70% of Japanese want Tokyo Games to be canceled or delayed

 

Over 70% of people in Japan think that this summer’s Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics should be canceled or postponed again, a think tank survey showed Saturday.

 

The survey by the Japan Press Research Institute showed that 37.9% of respondents said the Tokyo Games should be canceled while 34% said the events should be postponed again.

 

The proportion of respondents who said the events should take place as scheduled stood at 26.1%. The Tokyo Games were already postponed by one year from summer 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

 

Of those who opposed holding the games this summer, 83.4% said the events would bring many people to Japan from around the world, leading to a further spread of the virus, while 64.3% said there is no prospect of the pandemic being contained.

 

Of those who favored holding the games as scheduled, 67.3% noted that athletes have been preparing for the events and 49.3% said people would be encouraged by athletes’ performances and the excitement brought by the games.

 

The poll showed that 44.8% said that if the games are canceled or postponed again, preparations made so far, including the construction of sporting venues, would end up being a waste of resources.

 

The poll was conducted between Oct. 30 and Nov. 17, collecting answers from some 3,000 people aged 18 or older.

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https://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/52747797

 

 

IOC's Thomas Bach accepts Tokyo Olympics would have to be cancelled if not held in 2021

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Will Tokyo Olympics be cancelled? Or will it be held?

 

Covid cases are so high on daily basis. Athletes health will also be in danger as covid can spread very fast too.

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8 hours ago, OlympicsFan said:

Cool ... why should we care about random rumors? Why not just wait until there is an official decision? Also I doubt that the 2026 olympics will take Place in Los Angeles and i don’t think anyone can say today whether the 2024 and 2028 olympics will take place as planned. 

You are right.

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There is an ongoing rumor that very likely Tokyo Olympics will not be held in year 2021. Japan is no longer interested to hold the Olympics in year 2021 due to pandemic. However Olympics 2024 will be held in Paris as planned and Olympics 2026 will be held in Los Angeles as planned. Therefore Japan will make its bid to host the Olympics in year 2032.

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1 minute ago, 郝劲秋 said:

The health and safety of athletes should always be given top priority. As long as there are areas where the epidemic has not been resolved, it is not suitable for hosting the Olympic Games. Once infected, it may ruin the entire career.

Agreed totally.

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Even the person in charge the committee member for Tokyo 2020 Olympics also got infected with Corona Virus. Of course high possibilily is there that the Tokyo 2020 Olympics will have to be cancelled or postponed.