Japan is “determined” to host the Olympic Games postponed to 2021, the country’s prime minister said.
United Nations, United States:
Japan is “determined” to host the Olympic Games postponed to 2021 despite the coronavirus pandemic, the country’s newly elected prime minister told the United Nations General Assembly on Friday.
“Over the next summer, Japan is determined to host the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics as proof that humanity has conquered the pandemic,” Yoshihide Suga said in his first international speech since taking office this week. last.
“I will continue to make every effort to welcome you to safe and secure games,” Suga added in the video post.
The spread of the coronavirus around the world forced the historic decision to postpone the Games earlier this year.
But with continued spikes in infection around the world, questions arise as to whether the event will be possible next year.
Olympic organizers and officials have insisted the Games continue, with International Olympic Committee vice-president John Coates saying Friday “it has to happen,” citing athletes who would be devastated by a cancellation.
But medical experts have warned that this massive international event could be difficult to organize if the pandemic is not under control by next summer.
And enthusiasm for the Games appears to have waned in Japan, with polls over the summer finding that only one in four Japanese want them to happen, and most backing either a further postponement or outright cancellation. .
Organizers and officials are discussing a long and complex list of possible coronavirus countermeasures that they hope will make it possible to host the Games, even if a vaccine is not available.
These should include rigorous and repeated testing of athletes and potentially mandatory vaccinations, if a vaccine is available by then.
The postponement also created a variety of logistical headaches and additional costs.
Organizers are looking at hundreds of proposed cost-cutting measures, including the potential reduction of the traditionally flashy opening and closing ceremonies.
